Beyond Smallville: Time Shards 3
by gardy77
Summary: New! New! Time Shards 3 - The third installment in the trilogy continues with the Red Shard. The Hex Factor, Amazons! etc. Lois interferes with a spellcasting Zatanna and sends the shard into a trip back in time to save the Amazon Nation.
1. Chapter 1: Orange Shard

Some Clana, some Clois, and guest starring Shayera Hol - Hawkgirl

_**Orange Shard**_ - _UltraVIlle_

Scene: The Kent Farm

The Eye of Rao directed Clark's next choice for a time shard. He spilled out onto the gravel access road leading to the North Pasture. He felt something! Clark's elbow was skinned and bleeding, which was never a good sign. Had this shard robbed him of his powers?

Clark quickly glanced around, and there was no visible kryptonite in the area. He didn't feel the nausea and dizziness usually associated with a drop in his effective abilities. As a test, he tried to focus his x-ray vision…nothing! Superman was indeed powerless.

"Now what?" he grumbled, unsure as to whether the Eye of Rao would work without his supernatural powers. "This is the last time I use this damn thing!" Clark muttered. If that was true, he'd failed again. This time the failure would be spectacular. What if he couldn't find his way back to the true reality? Earth would be devastated, possibly sooner than later.

Clark got up, dusted himself off, rubbed his sore elbow, and began walking towards the farmhouse. The trail seemed exceptionally long, but he realized that he was walking at the common speed of a human. It would take some getting used to, not zipping about.

This can't be how it ends, he considered in silence. No saving the world, no Lois, no Lana, no Chloe, no nothing. He would be an ordinary farmer. Maybe this was his true fate? He analyzed. After all, Earth had been here long before he came, and despite Darkseid, would be here long after…he died.

Death had been Superman's constant companion over his last one hundred years of real life. Kara, his Kryptonian cousin, and Laura Lake, the highly genetically modified metahuman, had been the last important people in his lengthy life to die. Clark's thoughts clouded as he increased his pace.

Superman pulled out the Eye of Rao again. The first five facets, containing blue, green, amber, amethyst, and violet shards were dimly lit. The orange one, which he was in, gleamed brightly, an indicator of where he was. The last three facets, scarlet, golden yellow, and white remained dark.

Clark shook his head, hoping that the gem's darkness didn't mean that his failing journey was over. Did it simply indicate that those shards hadn't come into existence yet? He wondered as he approached the yellow and white ranch house where the Kents had raised him.

Before he reached the porch, a red convertible sports car roared up the unpaved driveway, skidding to a stop a mere few feet from where Clark was standing. He hadn't flinched, though if the car had hit him, it likely could have killed him. He wasn't used to being powerless at all.

Lois Lane stepped out carefully, staggering slightly as she spied him. Clark was glad to see a familiar face, though he had no idea how this shard's Lois would react. As she drew closer, Superman noted that Lois looked tired, haggard, and worn out. Her usually cute face was thin and her eyes were dark.

Lois's hair was long, straggly and reddish blonde! Clark didn't care for that look at all. She stood face to face with him, and he observed that she was far too skinny, and her cheekbones were gaunt. Clearly, his most famous love hadn't been taking care of herself. "Hi Lois." He forced a smile.

"Clark, it's good to see you." Lois's voice seemed weak and harsh. She hugged him, and Clark felt how slight her frame had become. She couldn't have weighed all that much, he thought.  
"So, how are you?" Clark asked warily, afraid of what she might say. "Much better, now that I've found you." Lois's voice was a hair above a whisper. Without his super hearing, Clark could barely make out what she said. "Oh? Was I lost?" He quipped lamely. Lois backed away, and grinned thinly.

"No, but I was." Lois said tearfully. "I'm leaving him for good this time." Clark was puzzled, though the hairs stood up on the back of his neck, a decidedly human reaction. "Who?" He asked. Lois frowned. "Who? Lex, that's who!" She snapped. Clark felt nauseous, and this time it had nothing to do with kryptonite. He recoiled slightly, and gathered his thoughts.

"Good for you, I guess." Clark spat out. Lois cocked her head. "You've been after me for years to dump him, and now I finally had the guts to do it." Superman winced. He recalled Lana saying something similar in one of the past shards, possibly the original reality that he'd come from.

"Will you be staying in Smallville?" Clark asked, politely making conversation. "Smallville? Where's that?" Lois folded her thin arms across her chest. "You mean, am I leaving Reeves Grove, don't you?" Clark nodded, thoroughly puzzled. "Of course, I'm just tired." He replied lamely. Which was in fact, the truth.

"There was a town here called something else, I can't remember what. Too many cocktail parties over the years, I wonder about my mental faculties sometimes." Lois added. "It was literally wiped off the map by a massive meteor shower, and twin tornadoes that obliterated the place."

Clark's hearing finally picked up the trotting hooves of a horse nearby. A black and white mare with a slim female rider approached. He turned his attention from Lois to the area immediately beyond the farmhouse. Two pick up trucks sat in the back driveway between the barn and the corral.

The rider put the horse into a stop, and agilely hopped off, landing softly in the dusty gravel. The woman was around twenty, with long black hair pulled tightly into a lengthy ponytail. She wore tight blue jeans, a red flannel shirt, and brownish gold cowboy boots.

"You! What the hell are you doing here?" The young woman shouted angrily. Clark was at a loss for a guess as to whom she was referring to. The rider slipped off her black leather gloves, and headed towards them aggressively. Clark gulped when the woman got close enough for him to identify.

"Lana Lang!" Lois spat and grimaced, like she'd swallowed something spoiled. "That's right, Lane, and what the hell are you doing on my farm?" Clark's eyes widened. Her farm? "Actually, Lang, the farm still belongs to the Kents." Lois corrected the annoyed girl.

"Yeah, well in a few months when I become Lana Lang-Kent, it will be our family's farm." Lana hissed and immediately came up to Clark, and kissed him passionately, like a lioness marking her turf. Clark didn't resist. It had been so long since he'd kissed Lana, or any woman for that matter.

Lois glanced at her feet, clearly upset at seeing Lana and her possessive display. Lana unclenched from Clark, and stalked into the house without another word. Clark was mad at how Lana had treated Lois, especially given the fact that Lois was obviously in need of some kind of help.

"I guess I'd better go, Clark." Lois began to tearfully back away. "Good luck at the wedding." Clark's stomach hurt, in yet another common human reaction. "Lois, wait. Would you care to come in for lunch?" He needed to get to the bottom of this shard, and see if had any relevancy at all.

"I don't think so. Thanks." Lois turned on her heel, wiping the tears from her cheek.  
"Now listen Lois, it's still my house, and I say that you could stay for lunch. If Lana doesn't like it, that's too bad." Clark offered gallantly. "Honestly, you look like you could use a good home cooked meal. Not that I'm an expert chef or anything."

"I'd appreciate that, but I don't want to cause any trouble between you and your fiancé." Lois forced a thin grin. "She'll just have to deal!" Clark smirked. "We all need friends." Lois wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks and followed Clark up the front stairs. He held the door open for her.

Lois entered the kitchen, and Lana dropped her coffee mug. It shattered on the floor. "How dare you?" Lana snapped. Clark was about to respond, when he noticed that his Earth mother, Martha Kent, had turned from washing the morning dishes to face them.

Martha looked to be about the same age as she'd been in the original time line. She wore a nice flowered blue blouse, and well-worn comfortable looking blue jeans. "I assume you're going to clean that up, young lady!" She gently chastised Lana.

"Mom, you remember Lois Lane?" Clark purposely ignored Lana's evil stares. "Oh yes, Lex Luthor's girlfriend, how are you? What brings you out here to the sticks?" Martha made pleasant conversation. "It's obvious, Mother Kent!" Lana shouted. "She's here to try and steal my boyfriend!" Clark rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous, Lana. No one steals anyone's boyfriend."

"Listen, you worthless skank!" Lana challenged Lois, who looked hurt by the aggressive girl's tone. "Just because Lex, your sugar daddy dumped you, doesn't mean that you can come back here, you strumpet!" Lois was about to cry again. Martha threw the dishcloth at the sink angrily.

"Lana Louise Lang! You apologize right now!" Martha put her hands on her hips. "That's no way for a young lady to act! Miss Lane is a guest in my house!" Lana silenced and glanced away from them. She wouldn't apologize. "Mom, I've asked Lois to stay for lunch, is that okay?" Clark asked calmly.

"Of course, dear." Martha began digging out another set of plates. "I will not eat at the same table as that…" Lana began, but she was cutoff by a deep male voice behind her. "Fine, then you'll eat outside, young lady!" Jonathan Kent said sternly. "I'll do just that!" Lana hissed, grabbing a plate.

"Dad!" Clark was so happy to see his long dead father, that he forgot momentarily that this was a different reality. "Maybe I should just go, thank you for the invite, Mrs. Kent, Mr. Kent. See you Clark. Good luck." You'll need it, she thought. "Lana, congratulations on your engagement. You've landed a fine man." and you don't deserve him, she added sourly, but silently.

Lois turned around, gently pressing Clark's arm, and left quickly. "I hope you're proud of yourself, Lana!" Clark admonished her. "That was very mature! I suppose you didn't notice that Lois was in bad shape and could've used our help." Jonathan flashed a grin at his son's level of maturity.

"Clark, she's bad news!" Lana said in a more conciliatory tone. "She and Lex have tormented all of Reeves Grove over the years. Have you forgotten that he foreclosed on my Aunt Nell's flower shop? Foreclosed on our favorite coffee shop, The Talon? Foreclosed on dozens of our neighbors' farms?"  
"I'm sure Lex and Lois aren't perfect, Lana, but there's two sides to every story." Clark added. "Did you stop and think that Lois may be trying to turn her life around?" Jonathan proudly patted Clark on the back as Martha smiled. The kids are finally growing up, she thought wistfully.

"That's fine, Clark." Lana said sheepishly, "But she can turn her life around without your help."  
"Honey, could you call Kara downstairs for lunch?" Martha asked Clark. Lana resumed her duties setting the table, listening as Lois's sports car roared off into the distance. "Sure, mom!" Clark was curious to see what his younger cousin was up to in this time line. He slowly went upstairs.

He spotted four closed doors on the second level. The ranch house was now a four bedroom split- level. The first room he entered was fairly clean, with pink curtains on the windows, trimmed with white lace. He saw a small pile of common girl's clothes in a corner. Lana's room? He guessed.

When had Lana moved in? Clark wondered silently, before going on to the next room. The windows had blue curtains with red sashes, and a pile of men's clothes in another corner. My room, he assumed, and moved on to the last room in the upstairs. He knocked on the door politely.

"Kara? It's time for lunch!" He called into the room. Silence. A moment later Kara answered. Clark was shocked to see her and the disarray her room was in. "Whatever, Clark. What was all the commotion?" His younger cousin asked. Kara wore dark eye shadow, bright ruby red lipstick, and had her long blonde hair wrapped tightly in dreadlocks. He didn't care for her look at all.

Kara's room was decorated from ceiling to floor with obscure rock band posters, black curtains, and a matching black bedspread. Her clothes, mostly black and blue colored, were strewn about the room haphazardly.

"What're you staring at?" Kara asked smartly. "I'll clean my room when I feel like it. We can't all be perfect like you." She pushed passed him, bad attitude and all. Clark shook his head. Kara was acting like a typical teenager, which worried him to no end.

The strange lunch was atypically silent, with Clark trying to get a handle on what this time shard was all about. The Eye of Rao had directed him specifically to this time line. As of yet, it seemed irrelevant, though he enjoyed the company of his 'family that could've been'.

Jonathan, Martha, Kara, and Lana all surrounded him, though he couldn't help feeling bad for this time line's Lois. Was his alternate family dysfunctional, or unusually normal? Clark still hadn't sorted it all out yet. The girls were the first to finish eating and clean up.

Clark sat back with Jonathan and Martha, waiting for one of them to give some clue as to what was going on in the world. "I'm heading over to Lucy's." Kara announced without any further explanation. "Just a minute, young lady." Jonathan stopped Kara in her tracks.

"Are your chores done?" Jonathan asked. "Yes, Uncle John." Kara replied automatically. "And how about your homework?" Martha put in. "All set and ready for you to check, Aunt Martha." Mrs. Kent nodded. "Fine. You can go." Mr. Kent decided, and Kara was gone. Clark wondered if she still had her powers. It didn't appear that she had, but Kara wasn't interested in sharing any family time.

"I worry about that girl." Martha commented. Lana was reclining in the living room chair, and hadn't said a word to Clark since Lois left. Since when is Lana a drama queen? Clark mused silently. "She's a good girl, Martha. " Jonathan reassured her. "Kara just needs to find her own way."  
"Mom, how long has Kara been living here?" Clark asked suspiciously. Jonathan stared at him blankly. "Since we adopted her from the Kansas Orphanage, thirteen years ago, why, son?" Jonathan answered. "I guess I sort of lost track of time." Clark said truthfully. Literally, he thought.

Just outside, a slim shadow crossed the grassy lawn between the barn and the ranch house. A distinct thump was heard, as a young woman landed, perched atop the barn roof. The flyer had long red hair, and carried a dangerous looking mace.

She glanced around in dismay...


	2. Chapter 2: Pushback

_Inspired by the movie "Push"_

Episode 1 - The Ring: Pushback

Clark stood on the wrap around front porch gazing out over the farm. "This is great." He mused aloud. My father's alive, Lana loves me, Kara seems like an average pouting teenager, and Lois…well, she's going to need my help, powers or no powers.

The fluttering of wings behind him interrupted his thoughts. "Kal El!" An angry woman's voice sounded like a shout, coming from nearby. Clark whirled to face…Shayera Hol, The Thanagarian Hawkgirl. She removed a golden brown beaked mask from her petite face.

Clark respected her privacy, usually, but wondered why the beautiful alien would insist on covering up her face. It had been quite a while, literally a lifetime, since he'd seen her. Clark recalled that above all, Shayera was a warrior. She was never one to play a glamour queen.

Superman remembered that he was in an alternate time line, so who knew what Shayera was up to. He'd have to test her. "Where did you hear that name?" He grilled the alien beauty as she folded her silky golden white wings behind her. Shayera picked at a colorful necklace that she wore.

The Hawkgirl's wings became translucent, and then disappeared. This was her mostly human disguise. Uneducated cultures would call her a goddess, or an angel or demon, but Clark knew that she was just different, like him. There was no mistaking her mace, a powerful weapon unique to her culture, which was made from a mysterious substance called Nth Metal.

"Kal El! You confessed to me your real name when we discussed your true nature." Shayera said with a slight alien accent. "How do you know me?" Clark continued to test her, trying her patience. "What? We were always good friends. I'd actually considered taking you as my lover, yet you never really thought about that, did you?" Shayera countered.

Clark reddened. "That was a different lifetime ago." Shayera swung her mace elegantly over one shoulder, and than the other, exercising her muscles. "No, Clark. That is this current lifetime, relative to where we are in the time space continuum. Did you think that I wouldn't notice you going back and forth through time? Thanagarians perfected time shift slipping."

"On Thanagar, we used time shifting as a weapon to surprise our most lethal enemies." Shayera continued, stretching leisurely in the late afternoon sun. "There was only one enemy that we couldn't best with our time lording." Her bright green eyes lit up as she concentrated on Clark's face.

"Darkseid!" Superman snapped. "Yes. Darkseid was too wise for even our advanced technology." Shayera confirmed. "My question is why are you here? This time shard offers you nothing. You'll not find the answers you seek here." Shayera made eye contact with him.

"How do you know what I'm seeking?" Clark countered. "It is obvious that you've chosen to go back in time to change some catastrophic event." Shayera guessed correctly. "It must be horrible, given your penchant for sticking to the rules, Boy Scout." She joked. "By going back in time you've chosen to disregard any rules, written or unwritten."

"You're right." Superman admitted. "Of course I am." Shayera said haughtily. "The one thing that makes me change the rules in my favor is…the destruction of Earth." Clark informed her. "That, and the loss of your one true love, Lois Lane." Shayera added.

Clark glanced away. "There was another…" he began before Shayera cut him off. "Yes, now I remember. Lana Lang, your first love." As if on cue, Lana gazed out the window at them, and dashed out onto the porch. "Get away from him, you demon!" Lana shouted as she lifted her hands before her. "Demon?" Shayera took offense at the term.

"You don't know what a demon is, child." Shayera faced Lana. "Now, just a minute…" Clark protested, fearing a confrontation between the two distinctly different women. Before he could explain, Lana placed her palms forward, and physically shoved the air in front of her.

An invisible blast of energy emanated from Lana's hands, as the air between them seemed to take a solid form. The energy surge hit Shayera directly in the midsection, and the alien warrior tumbled backwards, tearing through a fence, and the barn wall, before righting herself.

"Wow!" Clark managed to get out, before he realized the danger that Lana was in. Shayera, extremely pissed, sprouted her wings and charged at Lana, darting towards her like a raptor chasing its prey. Lana was ready, however, and changed her hands' positions slightly.

As Shayera swooped down low, Lana created an energy bubble. The alien warrior bounced off of the surprise shield, like a giant bird hitting a window. The Thanagarian somersaulted sideways, landing hard on the gravel road, skidding to a stop. Clark gaped, powerless to stop the melee.

"Lana! Calm down! Shayera's a friend!" Clark shouted. "A friend? That creature is a friend?" Lana scoffed. Shayera cursed vehemently in her native language, rubbing her arm, and then her backside. "What foolishness is this?" Shayera complained as she stood back up.

"First, Lana, relax." Superman calmed his unusually powered girlfriend. Lana retracted her miniature force field, and Shayera stalked towards them waving her mace menacingly. "Shayera! Let it go! I'm looking for an explanation, not a brawl." Clark yelled angrily. By now, Mr. and Mrs. Kent had come outside to witness the bizarre melee. They silently watched, apparently not surprised by Lana's talent.

"Lana, where did you get those powers?" Clark began the questioning as Shayera retracted her wings, and slowed her pace, swinging the mace over her back. "I've always been…uh…different, Clark, you know that." Lana began weakly. Clearly the display of power had fatigued her. "Do I?" He retorted.

"Please tell me that you are not one of Lex Luthor's evil creations?" Jonathan asked Shayera. "No, Mr. Kent, I am from another world, and Clark is my friend." She said unconvincingly. "An alien?" Martha wasn't really shocked. "I prefer traveler." Shayera said as she stopped beside Clark.

"Lana! Clark! We'll discuss this later." Jonathan ordered, in an attempt to gain control of the situation. "Why are you here?" Lana challenged. Shayera sighed. "I was expecting to speak with Kal El!" She snapped. Clark rolled his eyes. "There's no Kal El here, young lady." Jonathan said angrily.

"Mom, Dad, Lana…let me handle this!" Clark decided for them. "You'd better not 'handle' her." Lana warned jealously. She turned on her heel and followed Jonathan and Martha into the house. Clark sighed. "What was that all about?" He asked Shayera rhetorically.

"Did you think that your time exploits wouldn't affect the outcome of the past, present, and future? Clark, by streaming through time, you've unknowingly created several different Earths, with several different fates. Humans don't really have the intellectual capacity to comprehend this."

"I'm not human." Clark defended. "Really? In this time you are!" Shayera said shortly. "That is why I've come back through time, breaking about a dozen Justice League rules. We all created a non-interference pact with Earth's past, present, and future." Shayera shocked him with the revelation.

"You helped craft those rules, Kal El." She pointed an accusatory finger at him. "That may very well be, Shayera, but guess what? That didn't work. I failed to protect Earth by not defeating Darkseid. His black fleet decimated Earth about two hundred years from now."

The beautiful alien patted Clark on the back. "We have all failed Earth, my friend. Even the Justice League had underestimated that true demon." Shayera said, consoling him. "By going back in time you've fractured Earth's fate into several possible futures. In one of them, Earth will win."

Only now did Clark realize the multilayered concept. "So, I've been wasting my time, literally." He commented, gazing down at his feet. "Not completely, Kal El. This time shard is merely a dalliance, with you reclaiming an ex-lover. As I understand your mission, we must gather the Justice League together in a more realistic time shard, much earlier than we had done before."

"Where did Lana get those powers? In my past, I don't recall such an ability by anyone." Clark was still mystified. "It's possible that you've created a new reality, that never existed before." Shayera guessed. "You can always ask her. Yes?"

"True. If she has some kind of device…" Superman began. "Then we may be able to abscond with it, and improve our overall chances against Darkseid and his many minions." Shayera agreed. "Let's go." Clark held the door open for Shayera. "Regardless of anything...it is good to see you Kal El."

She stood in the middle of the kitchen, amid gapes by the Kents and Lana. "Shayera is from another world, but here, she's my friend." Clark announced into the awkward silence. "That's good enough for us, son." Jonathan said nobly. "We trust you dear." Martha added. Lana remained silent.

Clark noted that Lana wore a medium sized ring, with an orange gem placed in its facet, on one finger, and what looked to him like an engagement ring on another. Superman was about to pull a chair out for Shayera, when Lana glanced at it. The chair slid out from beneath the table on its own.

Clark stared at her in amazement, _telekinesis_? He guessed. "Thank you." Shayera said cordially as she watched Lana, her emerald green eyes piercing the girl's pouting face. Clearly Lana was obsessed with Clark, which wasn't that far from any other reality.

"Shayera, what brings you to Reeves Grove?" Martha asked pleasantly. "As I mentioned earlier, I had been looking for Kal...uh...Clark. We are sort of teammates." Hawkgirl replied evasively. "Funny, he never mentioned you before." Lana challenged. Clark interrupted her before things got ugly.

"Lana, tell me about your strange abilities." He asked calmly, as Lana's steel gaze melted away. "I've told you a dozen times, Clark." She stated defensively. "Humor me. Refresh my memory." Clark countered smoothly. Lana huffed. "Two years ago I found this pretty orange ring near an unusual spacecraft. I picked it up and have had it ever since. Yes, it gives me some powers."

Lana glared at Shayera. "I suppose its from your ship?" The Hawkgirl shook her head, removing the golden mask, as her long reddish locks fell loosely about her shoulders.

"No. It is not mine nor my people's." Shayera continued. "I have never seen it before." Jonathan had picked on her phrasing. "Your people's? How many of you are there?" He inquired. Clark fought back a smile. His dad always did have a way of getting to the point.

"There are nine hundred million Thanagarians left. I assure you, none of them are here, on Earth. I am a lone scout, and happened to be a friend of Clark's. We are kindred spirits." Shayera added. Martha took on the questioning next. "Are your people peaceful?" Shayera sighed. "No, Mrs. Kent. Thanagarians are warriors. We've advanced our culture by war and conquest. Don't worry, Earth is not on our list."

"Thank you for being honest with us." Martha concluded solemnly. "I guess I don't understand, Shayera." Jonathan chimed in. "What does this have to do with our son?" Clark was about to change the subject, when Shayera continued. "Kal El's destiny lies far beyond your farm."

"Who is this Kal El you keep talking about?" Lana butted in. "It doesn't matter." Clark dismissed her with a wave, annoying Lana further. Shayera was growing bored and frustrated. _There's that awkward silence again that aggravated Lois all those years_, Clark thought.

"Shayera, would you care to stay for dinner?" Martha offered. "Um...no thank you, Mrs. Kent. I have much to do. Your hospitality is legendary." Shayera smirked as she spoke. Lana relaxed, knowing that the alien female was ready to leave. "Clark, a word please?" Shayera stood up, cuing her exit.

He walked her outside, where she promptly stretched her wings. "Kal, I've told you that this time shard is irrelevant. Yet, you should take Lana's ring. It doesn't belong on Earth." Clark shrugged. "Then you have seen it before?" Shayera shook her head. "No, but doesn't it resemble the Green Lantern's ring?"

"You mean it could be related to John's power ring, or Hal's before him?" Clark inquired. "It stands to reason, doesn't it? And also, did you notice that when Lana mentioned the spaceship, no one questioned her about it? There is much more here than meets the eye."

"I can take it from her...but also...at the moment, I have no abilities. Frankly, I don't know how to get them back." Superman informed her. "Do you still have the Eye of Rao?" Shayera grumbled. "Yes." He replied warily. "That is all you will need. Once you're within the time vortex, things will be fine."

Shayera seemed confident in her statement. Clark, however, didn't share her enthusiasm. In this strange time shard, he could be happy. Shayera extended her wings. "Do not hesitate, Kal El. This time line is an illusion as far as our true reality is concerned." Hawkgirl flew off towards Reeves Dam.


	3. Chapter 3: The Hex Factor

PG-13

_Red Shard _– Clark begins the final leg of his Time Shards trilogy. The odyssey carries him into previously unknown lands, where he must continue his quest for an elite group of super beings that will become the Justice League, and The Legion of Superheroes.

**The Hex Factor**: _Guest Starring Zatanna_

Pairing: Clark/Lois. Clark/Diana

Clark and the talented magician Zatanna tumbled onto the floor of the barn loft hideaway that was home to Clark for many years of his early life. "Ouch!" Zatanna rubbed her tender buttocks. "Is it too much to ask for a seatbelt?" She asked him cynically.

Clark smirked. "You're the one that wanted to fly Clark Kent airlines." He quipped, helping Zatanna to her feet. The promising young sorceress checked her magic spell book first for damage. The ancient brown leather bound book was unscathed. She checked the yellowed pages as well.

"Not that I'm complaining, but why would you want to hitch a ride out of a time line?" Clark began to grill Zatanna, having a general mistrust of any magical being. "How're you planning to get back? I mean what if a shard fails, and you die or get stuck outside of time?"

"Not to worry, Clark." Zatanna said. "Once I'm here, I can spell cast my way around the realm. Also, my crystal ball instructed me to go along with you on your adventure." Clark stared at her blankly. "Aw come on! A crystal ball?" Zatanna scowled. "Ye of little faith. Magic is more than pulling rabbits out of hats, making coins appear or disappear, or sawing people in half."

"Are you sure you can control all this?" Clark scoffed. "Magic is more of a faith or a type of religion." Zatanna explained. "It's a tool, a tool that requires a skill. I use magic as easily as you can use a hammer and nails." Clark nodded, unsure if the leggy beauty actually answered his question.

"Smallville! What the hell?" A familiar shrill voice hollered up from the loft staircase. "Why is it that every time I see you lately, I either wind up with a major headache or short term memory loss?" Clark and Zatanna exchanged glances. Lois climbed up the stairs removing pieces of straw from her golden brown hair. "Do I know you from somewhere?" She questioned Zatanna.

"Uh oh!" Zatanna remarked. "Yeah! Big time!" Clark shook his head. "Mind you, I'm a patient woman." Lois continued her minor rant. "I don't mind having one of our lip locks interrupted, but to find you sprawled out in the loft with another woman is pushing it, don't you think?"

"This is my friend, Zatanna." Clark reddened. "A pleasure." Lois forced herself to be civil and shook the young spell caster's hand. "Zatanna…Zatanna…" Lois winced. "Oh yeah. You were at my cousin Chloe's birthday party at the Ace of Clubs. I assume you're not doing a personal magic show for my boyfriend." Clark flushed a deeper red as Lois referred to him.

"We're actually working." Clark began lamely. "Okay, I'll bite! Whatcha workin on?" Lois absently grabbed Zatanna's spell book. "Neat old book!" She commented as a horrified look crossed Zatanna's face. "Lois! Don't touch that…" It was too late. The book spun in Lois's hands.  
The books pages flipped as a bright yellow and white light poured from it nearly blinding Lois. "Oh crap!" Zatanna exclaimed. She grabbed Clark's hand and then Lois's. They subsequently disappeared in a puff of white smoke. The barn was empty. A few strands of hay smoldered in the dusty daylight.

"Wah!" Lois yelled as they reappeared in a green meadow flanked by a creeping whitish silver fog. The air smelled dank and musty. Clark wrinkled his nose at a familiar, though pungent aroma. Zatanna stood nearby, fuming. "Lois! Give me the book!" She ordered curtly.

Lois ignored her, instead focusing on her feet. "Ew! What the hell did I step in?" Clark fought back a laugh, remembering that it was likely a dangerous situation that they'd soon find themselves in. He hadn't long to wait. A galloping group of horsemen approached.

They were traveling at a high speed based on estimates by Clark's superior hearing. "Uh Lois, maybe you'd better get…" He began as the first of the riders approached them. "Out of the way, scarlet wench!" The first grubby horseman yelled. Lois half turned to face him. "What did you…?"

"Move thine arse, maiden, or I shall smite you myself!" A second angry rider bellowed as he quickly approached Lois's position. "Lois!" Clark dove at her waist, using a textbook football tackle, and his blinding speed. Zatanna dove in the opposite direction when it became clear that the horsemen wouldn't stop. Clark intercepted Lois and the two of them flew into a thick, greenish hedge.

Zatanna, meanwhile, flipped backwards onto a muddy rise. Apparently the experienced magic user had some surprisingly swift moves of her own. "Smallville! As much as I would enjoy a roll in the grass with you, this is hardly the time or place." Lois, ever quick witted, responded.

"That's just it, Lois. We have no idea what you've done." Clark rebuked her as he helped her back on her feet. "Maybe we should start with what exactly you two were doing!" Lois countered, ineffectively trying to keep the angry edge out of her voice.

"This is exactly why I can't stand magic!" Clark complained as they crossed back over to Zatanna's side of the gravely, mucky roadway. "Kent! Don't start!" Zatanna snapped, as she vaulted back towards them. "Nice gymnastics, bad attitude!" Lois checked out the young magician.

"Magic is like a weapon. It can be used for good or evil, defense or offense." Zatanna lectured, as her tone softened just a bit. "I thought that you said that you could control this magic power of yours." Clark retorted. "I can. Lois can't. In fact, I'm at a loss to explain why Lois was able to do any magic at all." Zatanna narrowed her big brown eyes.

"Okay, I appreciate your close contact with me, Smallville, but I'd hardly call it magical." Lois sniped. "The book, Lois." Zatanna held out her hand, palm upward. "Fine, here's your damn book!" Lois tossed the ancient text across the dusty road. Zatanna was barely able to snag it, before it would hit the ground. Clark brushed his tousled hair off of his forehead.

"Anyway." Lois smiled lustily. "I enjoyed your heroics, Clark, and your attempt at defending my honor." Zatanna rolled her eyes. "Oh for…" Clark put up his hands in resignation. "Whatever! Zatanna, can you just get us out of here before something else happens?"

"It's not that simple, Clark." Zatanna brushed off the spell book. "It never is." Clark groaned. "Lois possessed the book and did magic. We must undo what she's done." Zatanna explained patiently.  
"Lois, have you ever had any magical experience before?" She inquired. "Well, there was this one guy, that I …" Zatanna's eyes widened. "Oh pu-lease!" Clark grumbled.

"Let me rephrase that question." Zatanna sighed. "Have you ever been magically inclined, meaning given magical abilities or accidentally cast a spell?" Lois shook her head. "No." Clark said, "Yes." and explained about the ancient witch Isobel, aka Lana Lang.

"That presents a problem." Zatanna flipped through the spell book, and frowned. "You were really dancing around in your barn in your underwear?" Lois's eyes sparkled. "That must've been quite a sight to see." Clark reddened. "The problem is that only Lois can undo the spell." Zatanna clarified.

Four horsemen galloped towards them, but were riding at a more reasonable pace than the previous two. "Patrick! Look at this!" The first rider, a young man with long curled blonde hair began. "What is it, Liam?" A young dark-haired man asked as he slowed his steed to a trot.

"Wayland! Thomas! Come quickly!" Liam called behind him. "It looks like a charlatan and his concubines!" Patrick observed with disdain. Clark groaned. "This just gets better." He mumbled. The final two riders pulled up alongside his friends.

"Hey! Who are you calling a concubine?" Lois challenged, rolling up the sleeves on her soiled blouse. "You dare speak to me, strumpet?" Patrick whipped a shiny sword out from its sheath on one side of the horse, pointing it at Lois. "Perhaps I should cut your lying tongue out!" He added angrily.

"Ha! Don't bother, brother!" Wayland chuckled. "Of what use would she be in her line of work without a tongue?" He taunted, as the other riders laughed rudely. Now Clark was getting pissed. "Zatanna, let's go before this gets ugly!" His eyes flared briefly red.

"The mouse roars!" Thomas challenged. "Yes, I think it best if you and your vile harlots left the vicinity before we call on Sheriff Wycliff. Edgarsborough is not a place for your type." Lois gave the rude young men dirty looks before she crossed the road and joined Zatanna and Clark.

The young sorceress flipped through the pages of the spell book looking for a specific reference. "Why don't these things come with an index?" She muttered. "Clark, only the spell caster can remove his or her spell. It's one of those myriad of magic rules."

"Magic? Spells?" Patrick hissed. "Witches! They're witches!" Wayland echoed. "Let us take our leave, before they turn us!" Thomas urged. "Witches should be burned at the stake, my brothers." Liam said, in a deadly tone. "We must report them to the Sheriff, and possibly Father O'Hara. Perhaps he can purge them of their demons."

Lois glanced at the riders briefly. "Well, its not the first time I've been called a witch." She remarked sarcastically. "See brothers? She admits her alliance with the dark arts!" Patrick taunted. "Perhaps she is controlled by Lucifer?" Wayland speculated. "Now that, I'd believe." Clark groused.

"Clark! Not helping!" Zatanna scolded him. A new rider came up behind the young men. It was a beautiful young woman, roughly their age. She was dressed in a long, flowing, gray dress, which covered her body completely down to her thin ankles. Her curled blonde hair was piled high atop her head in an exaggerated manner.  
"Lady Martengale!" Patrick exclaimed. "Don't look upon the vile harlots and their charlatan. They are cursed!" The woman checked out Clark first, than the girls, and shrugged. "Patrick, thank you for your concern, but I dare say that looking upon them will not turn me to stone." The noblewoman forced a thin grin as she spoke.

The cursed part, I believe." Clark grumbled as Zatanna put her thin finger on a specific page. "Found it!" She announced proudly. Just before all hell broke loose.

PG-13 - _The Hex Factor_ cont'd

"Great!" Clark commented hopefully. "Lois cast an osmotic spell." Zatanna explained. "Which means what?" He asked, ignoring the four horsemen and the lady rider. "Lois picked up the spell book without having a specific spell in mind, so the book in effect, read her thoughts when she touched it." The leggy young sorceress continued. "All she has to do is recall what she was thinking about and then reverse it."

"Lois? What were you thinking at the time?" Clark watched as she glanced at him blankly. "Please tell me that you remember." Zatanna folded her arms expectantly. Lois flushed. "It's sort of embarrassing." Clark's patience was growing thin. "Lois! Out with it!"

"Well, this is so dumb." Lois smiled. "Today, Lois!" Zatanna encouraged. "I was thinking about the trashy romance novel that I'd read last night. It took place in Victorian England…it was about these swashbuckling noblemen…" Clark cut Lois off. "I never figured you for the trashy romance novel type."

Lois snorted angrily. "Give me a break, Smallville. I've been dateless for about a year…a girl's got to have her relaxing, stress relieving hobbies!" Zatanna smirked. "So we're in your fantasy, roughly two hundred years ago. Just think us back to the current time and place." The magician directed sternly.

"You'll need the book." Zatanna was about to hand Lois the spell book, when a bloodcurdling yell was heard from somewhere up above them. "Zounds!" Patrick yelped. "The varlets set a trap for us! It's the savages!" Thomas hollered. "Protect Lady Martengale!" Liam ordered as the young men drew their swords and surrounded the defenseless noblewoman.

Zatanna and Lois exchanged glances. "Zounds? Varlets? I mean seriously, Lois, who says that?" Before she could answer, an arrow spun through the air, catching everyone by surprise. The point skewered Patrick's shoulder, and he screamed in pain, blood poured over his clean white shirt.

Patrick bravely kept his sword before him, as he winced. From the trees, line after line dropped, and scantily clad young women slid down the ropes, some with wicked looking crossbows in hand. All wore variations of animal skin clothing, and homemade masks. "Amazons!" Thomas spat.

Lois watched with detached interest. "Amazons? I don't remember them in my fantasy trashy romance novel." Clark instinctively protected Lois and Zatanna, squaring off against a few of the dangerous looking young women. "Maybe you skipped a chapter?" Zatanna reasoned.

She made certain that she had a good hold on the spell book, pinning it against her body, as she edged behind Clark. "Ladies, relax." He spoke softly to two of the nearest Amazon warriors. "We don't want any trouble." A cute young blonde Amazon closed in on Clark, double-edged sword in hand.

"He smells good, Tara!" She remarked. "Unlike the usual scurvy dogs we fight." She got into Clark's face, and quickly circled him like a lioness. "Amarice! Remember what day it is! We are not allowed to mate before the moon is at its fullest." Tara chastised her friend. "Mate?" Lois growled.

A third young Amazon put an exceptionally large, sharp, knife to Lois's throat, the type that fishermen use to filet fish. "Is he your consort, sister? If not, then he is fair game for Amarice, unless you prefer to challenge her to the death?" She challenged. "I might." Lois hedged.

"Do you wish to make challenge for Amarice's mate?" Tara asked Zatanna, who shook her head. "Nope! You can have him!" The sorceress quipped. "Thanks a lot, Zatanna." Clark grumbled. "Why not? We in the sisterhood have shared mates before, provided they're worthy." The third Amazon, named Jada, tempted. Clark gulped.

Meanwhile the other Amazons that had dropped from the trees had covered the young riders and Lady Martengale from every conceivable angle with their crossbows, and normal bow and arrows with quivers. "We await the princess's decree before Amarice can make challenge." Tara said.

"You know who'd really enjoy this?" Clark chuckled. "Oliver and Bart, and maybe even AC." Lois grimaced. "Let them get their own fantasies." Zatanna frowned. "You guys, this is serious. We may be in a sort of magical alternate universe, but those weapons are very real."

A taller Amazon walked up, commanding the attention of all the girls with the exception of those that had their weapons trained on their quarry. She had bright red orange straggly hair, and a homemade falcon's head mask. She lifted the mask up as she spoke. "What have we here?"

"Priestess Seponica, we have captured the intruders that dared cross our path and entered Amazon lands." A young stocky brown haired Amazon warrior said. "Out for a bloody nice ride in the countryside, are you?" Seponica's accent sounded like she'd had a traditional British or Irish upbringing. Seponica had a very large broadsword strapped across her back.

Clearly, no one wanted to mess with her. "Amarice has made challenge to the tall, brown-haired intruder for her mate." Tara explained to Seponica. "Truly?" She stared at Lois. "You would fight to the death for this one?" She drew her broadsword and waved it at Clark. Lois gulped. "Death is such a strong word…" She backpedaled.

Clark reddened with annoyance. "Be that as it may, only the princess may rule on a challenge." Seponica said and returned her attention to the riders. "You know, young riders, that to cross into Amazon lands carries a sentence of death." Seponica's eyes narrowed as she spoke.

"We are not afraid to die, harlot!" Wayland challenged bravely, or stupidly, depending on one's point of view. "Good!" Seponica sneered. "The heathen gods will smile on your disemboweled, rotting flesh!" Lois whimpered. "That is one mean girl!" Zatanna mumbled.

"Again, that is not up to me." Seponica walked slowly around the captives to face Lady Martengale. "Why do you cover your body so, lady rider? Are you in bondage?" Seponica inquired. "Now there's a phrase you don't hear too often." Lois said as her voice dripped with sarcasm. Clark rolled his eyes.

Lady Martengale ignored the Amazon Priestess proudly. "Sheath your swords, young riders. You stand no chance against my fully trained Amazon warriors. Who knows? If the fates smile on you, perhaps the princess will see fit to spare your scrawny hides." Seponica boasted, aware of the clear advantage she had over their captives.

"Just out of curiosity, Lois, which of these characters were you in the fantasy novel?" Zatanna asked warily. "Her." Lois pointed to Lady Martengale. "A damsel in distress?" Clark scoffed as Lois blushed. "Clark, every now and then, even I like to be saved." She defended.


	4. Chapter 4: Sword, Sorceress, Sisterhood

**The Sword, The Sorceress, and the Sisterhood**

PG 13 _Mild Violence_

Guest Starring: _Princess Diana aka Wonder Woman_

"The princess approaches!" A dark skinned older Amazon woman called from high above them in a tall Oak Tree. Seponica immediately sheathed her sword and strolled quickly to the edge of the Amazon garrison. She wanted to be the first to report to the princess, Clark assumed.

"Now's our chance!" Zatanna whispered, "Lois, take the book!" She handed it over to her behind Clark's back. "Silence, whelp!" Tara snarled as Amarice sidled up next to Clark. The princess and her entourage rode up rapidly on their horses. There hadn't been enough time for Lois to react.

Clark's curiosity had admittedly gotten the best of him. He towered over the shorter, slightly stocky Amarice, watching the roadway for the royal emissary. He spotted her and found her instantly attractive. Seponica bowed slightly as the royals brought their horses to a stop.

Clark couldn't take his eyes off the princess. She had long, flowing, raven black hair, bright, wide, bluish green eyes, a thin face with a thin chin, and wore a short, white, loose fitting tunic. Her high cheekbones flushed at the attention that everyone paid her. Clark guessed that she was only slightly older than Kara, roughly the same age as he, Lana, and Chloe, younger than Zatanna and Lois.

Seponica greeted the princess by crossing her breast with her right hand. "My Lady." She lowered her gaze briefly. "Priestess Seponica, greetings." The princess's voice was high and clear. She was obviously the most educated of the bunch, Clark imagined. To him, she seemed familiar.

"Are these yours?" The princess gestured towards the rest of her entourage. A tall dark skinned Amazon, and a shorter light skinned warrior dismounted, and quickly walked behind them, returning swiftly with a body! The warriors dumped the man in the middle of the roadway.

Two more Amazons, an olive skinned one and a pale skinned warrior, repeated the activity, dumping a second body in the roadway. Both men were beaten and bloody. Lois grimaced and Zatanna glanced away. "Don't worry. We haven't killed them." The princess said haughtily.

"Were it the week after the next full moon…." The princess began. "Let me put it this way, this roadway would be empty, except for my Amazon sisters and I." The royal beauty let the threat hang in the air for a moment. She'd delivered the threat in an even, menacing, tone.

"Princess Diana?" As Seponica used the royal's name, it immediately clicked in Clark's head. "Diana?" He muttered. "My Lady…" Seponica continued. "These men were found trespassing on Amazon lands. I know we are within the feast of the full moon, but shouldn't there be some form of retribution made?" Diana's expression soured, like she'd bitten into something that tasted horrible.

"Indeed there should be, Priestess." Diana stated nervously. "Princess Diana? May I speak?" Clark challenged politely. "Clark! Shut up!" Lois hissed as Zatanna shook her head. "You dare address the princess, dog?" Tara took a swing at Clark with her broadsword. Naturally it deflected harmlessly off his back. The blade splintered, and it was all Lois and Zatanna could do to avoid the metal shrapnel.

This sent murmurs throughout the Amazons, and the men gaped with wonder. Even Seponica's eyes widened. "I will hear his words. Step forward and approach me slowly." Diana ordered. Immediately, Amarice and Tara held Zatanna and Lois at sword point. "Easy, girls, easy." Lois muttered.

Clark flushed as he wove his way between the Amazon warriors and ended up beside Diana's white and black horse. "Surely you see the need to maintain discipline within the ranks." Diana began as she looked approvingly at Clark. "Yes princess, I do." He responded, calmly making eye contact with her. "It's none of my business, but shouldn't you take the high road?"

Young Diana cocked her head, letting her long black hair spill onto her shoulders. "Explain yourself." She directed. "I think that you should let all of us go. We can promise to no longer invade your lands." Clark spoke softly enough to prevent most of the Amazons from hearing.

"That is not the Amazon way." Diana defended coldly. "Perhaps you should lead your people in a new direction?" Clark pushed, knowing that he had Diana's full attention. "For example, do you have warnings against trespassers posted anywhere along this roadway?"

"One would think that the hanging, decaying bodies at the fork in the road just ahead would be sufficient." Diana argued. "That doesn't tell travelers whose land it is though, does it?" Clark continued warily. "Amazons are known and feared throughout the land." Diana countered, clearly enjoying her debate with Clark. She smiled at him briefly.

"What is your name?" Diana's tone softened. "Clark Kent." He replied. "You somehow seem familiar." She eyed him suspiciously. "You're not from this land, are you? I mean I sense no fear at all by you of me or my sisters." Clark grinned. "I believe that everyone should be treated fairly."

Diana's smile widened. Meanwhile, Lois and Zatanna exchanged glances. "He's trying to charm the princess out of killing us, isn't he?" Lois said quietly. Amarice tightened her grip on Lois's arms. "Ow!" She yelped. Tara sneered darkly.

Diana considered Clark's words carefully. He patiently awaited her decision. "Very well, Clark Kent, your words have meaning." The young princess's voice rose to command volume. "Sisters. I have decided to spare the lives of the intruders out of respect for the Fest of the Full Moon."

Seponica, Tara, and Amarice looked disappointed. "However, as penance for their transgression, we shall take their horses. Go! You have your freedom. I would advise you all to consider a different route the next time you decide to go riding. Next time, I will not be as forgiving." Diana's eyes narrowed to make her point.

Clark bowed slightly. "Thank you Princess Diana." The riders dismounted and begrudgingly helped their injured companions to their feet. The two severely beaten men had to be carried by Thomas, Wayland, and Liam. Lady Martengale breathed a sigh of relief as Clark returned to them.

"Thank you stranger, for your kind words on our behalf to the Amazon Princess." The British noblewoman said. "No problem, Lady Martengale. Now we ought to get out of here before the girls change their minds." Clark stood next to Lois who glanced away, embarrassed.

Zatanna had suggested that they not make a scene with the spell book. The Amazons could've gotten their grubby little hands on it, and wreaked all kinds of havoc. The younger Amazons gathered the pilfered horses and guided them past Seponica, who glanced at Clark with disdain.  
"There is one other matter to discuss." Diana said loudly from atop her steed. "Amarice of Goshen has made challenge to claim the mate of the stranger, a battle for the man called Clark Kent." Lois gulped and faced the princess. "Can we just go?" Clark urged Zatanna. "Not yet. The spell book would be too obvious. The Amazons must not claim it, or they'll disrupt the course of history."

"Lois?" Clark asked. "I can take her, Clark, but you'll owe me big time!" She replied confidently. "No, Lois! You can't! The fight is to the death, remember?" He paled as he spoke. "I won't allow you to kill for me, even in this creepy fantasy." Lois's eyes began to tear. "You'd do the same for me, wouldn't you?" She asked as Clark went silent.

Zatanna interrupted before Clark could answer. "Neither one of you can kill or be killed." She pointed out. "This is more than a fantasy. This is an alternate reality. If Lois kills Amarice, we don't know what would happen to the Amazons or the population in general."

"If Amarice kills Lois…" Zatanna began. "I won't let that happen." Clark said with conviction. "Enough talk!" Amarice snarled. Diana was very curious about the women and Clark in particular. "Amarice! We will settle this in Amazon fashion, with the approval of my mother, Queen Hypolita." Diana said sternly, as Amarice bowed and stalked off.

"Let us head back to my mother's village." Diana directed everyone, after checking that the riders were safely out of range of the Amazon weapons. "Clark Kent! Attend me!" Diana ordered, making Clark redden. To keep the peace, he walked over to her. "Catch me!" She playfully jumped off the horse, somersaulting forwards, and instinctively Clark caught her in his outstretched arms.

"I was testing your strength." Diana admitted as she smiled and let herself down from his grip. Clark once again gazed into Diana's big eyes, hoping to see a little of his old Justice League companion in them. This Diana was different. She was younger, and seemingly a bit immature.

"She's flirting!" Zatanna whispered to Lois. "That is very interesting, and could be made to serve our advantage." The other Amazons, with the exception of Amarice, who stared daggers at Lois, and Seponica, who seemed generally irritated at the whole situation, dutifully ignored the strangers.

**The Sword, The Sorceress, and the Sisterhood** cont'd

"Walk with me." Diana directed Clark. "Tara, release Clark's friends and tend my horse." She commanded. Tara silently but begrudgingly submitted. "Clark, who are your companions, and of what relation are they to you?" Diana interrogated, politely but firmly.

"Lois Lane and Zatanna, are my good friends and fellow travelers." Clark explained. Lois was trying to catch up to them, but two mean looking Amazon women barred her way with swords and spears. "You are not subservient nor a controller of them?" The princess asked.

Diana's youthful curiosity began to shine through. "No, Princess. Where we come from, all people are free." Clark purposely wanted to keep Diana talking. "All people? There are no servant men, and no good breeding stock?" Clark wasn't sure how to answer that.

"No, if men serve each other, or serve women, it's because they wish to, not are commanded to on threat of death." Clark felt like he was explaining society to his young cousin Kara. "It sounds dreadfully chaotic and disorganized." Diana commented. "That it is." Clark smiled, trying to win the young princess over. So far, he appeared to be winning.

"Princess Diana, a word please?" Seponica requested. "Certainly, Priestess." Diana said diplomatically. Clark dropped back past the Amazon guards to talk to Lois and Zatanna.

"Smallville! You're not trying to sweet talk the princess, are you?" Lois snapped. "That's exactly what I'm trying to do. I figure it may save your lovely face from being ripped off by Amarice." Clark toyed with her. Zatanna allowed herself a chuckle. Lois clutched the spell book. "I wish I was in Kansas." She playfully clicked her boot heels together. Zatanna cracked up.

"I'm afraid it doesn't quite work that way, Lois." Zatanna smirked. "Good try though." Suddenly, Clark's hearing picked up a heated exchange between Diana and Seponica.

"What is it, Priestess?" Diana asked warily. "I feel it is my place to remind the princess that it is not good to be seen on the same level as a man. I almost died when you leapt into his arms like a bloody gazelle. Now you walk by his side as if he was your equal?" Seponica was instigating.

"That is my affair, Priestess." Diana snapped. "In his world, women walk hand in hand, side by side. They fight and work the land together." Seponica's patience was growing thin. She still had to be careful about challenging the princess directly. It tended to be suicidal.

"Listen to me as your friend, Princess." Seponica relaxed her tone, diffusing the confrontation. "The others are beginning to talk, the murmurs bring dissention." Diana took her criticisms to heart, but still something told her that Clark was right. "Let them talk." Diana said petulantly. "Anyone may challenge my authority, or my mother's. They just must be prepared to accept the consequences."

"The outsiders are part of the man's world." Seponica continued to feed the flames. "A man is not allowed to set foot on Amazon lands, unless specifically instructed to for subservience and breeding purposes. The Queen must consent to this." The priestess reasoned.

"Do not quote the rules and decrees to me, Seponica!" Diana snarled. "You have voiced your opinion, which I value, but in my mind, Clark Kent and his friends are guests of the Royal Amazons." With that, Seponica bowed in submission and stalked off to tend her horse.

"Uh oh!" Clark began quietly enough for Lois and Zatanna to hear. "Uh oh? There is no uh oh, Clark." Lois remarked anxiously. "Diana and Seponica are fighting over us." He informed them, amazing the women. "How do you know?" Lois questioned. "Um…I watched their body language." He defended weakly. "I bet you did." Lois smirked, bringing a grin to Zatanna's dour face.

"Can't we just say the magic words like abracadabra or something?" Lois clutched the book. "I mean the girls aren't really watching us now." Zatanna shook her head. "In this case, when you unwittingly cast the spell, the book took over. It wants you to learn something before it will send us back."

"What could I possibly learn from a band of backwards malcontents with bad hygiene habits?" Lois scoffed. "That is what you must realize before we can return." Zatanna replied patiently. Clark sighed with disgust.

"I have to back Lois on this one. What can we learn from people that existed over two hundred years ago?" He protested.

Zatanna shrugged. "Maybe it's a case of you both teaching them something? Magic isn't an exact science. In fact, other than chemical mixtures of elements for potions, magic has no scientific basis. That is why most people don't believe in it."

"Again, I thought that you could control this magic realm!" Clark was getting frustrated. "Not at the moment." Zatanna confessed. "We have to let this all play out without getting ourselves killed, losing the spell book, or killing anyone else."

Their debate was interrupted by a gesture from Diana. "My sisters, we approach the Queen, my mother, Hypolita." She announced loudly, mostly for Clark, Lois, and Zatanna's benefit. Just over the next rise was a fully functional, Elizabethan style village, manned by women exclusively. At the far end of the village, was a rocky drop off leading to a large body of water.

**The Hex Factor**: _Home of the Brave_

"This is actually kind of fascinating." Zatanna commented as she watched Diana signal for their approach. "That's one word for it." Lois whined as Clark grinned thinly. "Don't be so smug, Smallville, you're just enjoying the possibility of a bevy of women fighting over you."

"Lois…" Clark began, before Diana cut her off. "Clark Kent, would you attend me?" She offered pleasantly, in an almost flirtatious manner. He strolled up besides her, causing a myriad of murmurs all across the huge village. Lois and Zatanna followed closely. The Amazon guards held their spears in a cross like manner. Lois and Zatanna stopped quickly.

The guards released them, provided that they walk several paces behind Clark and Diana. At the center of the village stood a well-constructed ancient looking temple. Its architecture resembled the palaces of ancient Greece. Gothic designs with large cement pillars adorned its façade.

Several dozen cement steps led to its oversized twin doors. Surrounding the temple, were dozens of roughly constructed huts, hewn from the local forest woods. The structures roofs were fashioned from gigantic palm tree leaves, crooked wooden planks, and thick layers of animal skins.

Diana and Clark walked side by side up the myriad of stone laden stairs. None of the other Amazons dared to approach the temple. Seponica was the only exception, heading across the stairs from their left flank. Lois and Zatanna were forbidden to walk on the steps. The Amazon guards barred their way, patiently awaiting their orders.

From somewhere to Zatanna's right came the blaring of ancient horns, nearly making Lois jump in the air. She nervously stood before the massive staircase, clutching the spell book. Seponica pounded the top step with her black hued staff, likely carved out of ebony wood. Clark and Diana stood on the third step below the entrance platform. Decorative jade lions perched on either side of it.

"Her majesty, Queen Hypolita." Seponica shouted as the murmuring crowd gathered and silenced. Clark reddened, as Diana purposefully held his hand. Lois and Amarice were furious. The Queen walked regally out onto the top stair, and her eyes widened. "Diana? What have you done?" She hollered, obviously shocked, wiping the broad smile off of young Diana's face.

**The Sword, The Sorceress, and the Sisterhood cont'd**

"That can't be good!" Zatanna grumbled. Lois sighed. "Someone punch my ticket, I want off of this crazy ride." She muttered. "Diana! I will speak with you alone!" Hypolita waved her errant daughter towards her. "Clark Kent, please wait with your friends below. I'm sorry." Diana apologized as her face reddened. "Um…take your time, we'll be here."

Clark bowed to the queen and hustled back down the steps, zipping past the unsuspecting Amazon guards. The girls were slow to react. Lois and Zatanna shook their heads, knowing that all the eyes of the Amazon nation were on them. "This is a nightmare, not a fantasy." Lois remarked.

"Tell me about it." Clark growled. The amorous Amarice casually walked past them, eyeing Clark and giving Zatanna and Lois dirty looks. "She's a hoot, isn't she?" Lois sniped. "I can't believe that we can't just zap our way out of here, unless you want to stay and play with your little Amazon friends, Smallville." Lois didn't even bother to keep the hint of jealousy from her voice.

Diana and Hypolita sauntered into the temple, presumably to have a little mother, daughter discussion about obedience. "What can we do, Zatanna?" Clark's tone was desperate. "We have to continue on, until the book has reached a satisfactory resolution." Zatanna answered vaguely.

"We might as well have a look around." Zatanna seemed very curious. "Let's ask first." Clark suggested. Lois checked on Seponica, and the priestess had taken up a position standing rigidly in front of the temple entrance. She watched them like a hawk, likely waiting for Clark, Lois, and Zatanna to do something stupid.

"Excuse me…Tara, isn't it?" Clark gave the young warrior the puppy eyes. "Can we have a look at the village, or is that forbidden?" Tara shrugged. "I don't care. Just as long as two guards are along with you at all times." Clark nodded. "Fair enough." Tara flipped her long stringy brown hair over her shoulder, apparently trying to make herself look more presentable.

Zatanna found her reaction intriguing. She began to wonder if Diana had changed their culture dramatically just by bringing Clark into the fold. "I shall take you around myself." Tara unexpectedly offered. "La Mira! Escort us please." Tara ordered another young warrior, perhaps someone in her charge. The olive skinned La Mira nodded respectfully, and waved her sword ahead.

La Mira seemed to be of a completely different ethnic origin than most of the other girls, Clark observed. She appeared to be of the Hispanic, or Pacific Islander culture. Tara guided them through the puzzled Amazons, as Seponica watched with great interest. She clapped her hands twice.

Immediately, the attentive warrior women dispersed, going back to their respective duties. A few gazed at Clark's backside as he walked away. "Isn't your girlfriend going to miss you?" Lois needled Clark as they made their way across the main courtyard, La Mira hot on their heels.

"Funny." Clark grimaced. "You ought to be concentrating on learning whatever it is that you're supposed to learn." Lois snorted derisively. "Whatever! How do you know its me that's the problem?" Clark narrowed his eyes. "You're the one who's fantasy we're stuck in."  
Zatanna found Lois and Clark's bickering amusing and annoying at the same time. She began to get the feeling that deep down, way down, they truly loved each other. "I'm not convinced that this is Lois's fantasy." The young sorceress began. "She may have been the catalyst, but I think that we were meant to be here at this place in history."

Tara continued to lead them down the main village concourse, past the loosely organized structures that served as the women's homes. "Are you sure that there were no Amazons in your book?" Clark asked suspiciously. "No. I swear that I read it cover to cover. No Amazons, period."

"I've never even heard of Amazons other than the South American River." Lois added. "Aren't they supposed to be mythological beings?" Zatanna smirked. "Oh? Like magicians, sorceresses, and super powered beings?" Lois nodded. "Point taken."

Clark considered all this, and began piecing a plan together. "Sometimes, mythology is based on fact. It may be a small fact, but nonetheless it exists." Zatanna concluded. "Is this a type of reality?" Clark pondered aloud.

Zatanna nodded. "It would seem so." Lois had lost interest briefly in their budding philosophical exchange. She watched every Amazon she could see, expecting them to jump at her on a moment's notice.

Tara hadn't really explained anything about the girls to this point, instead focusing on her sisters' reactions, as she walked before Clark and the strangers. Zatanna took up the challenge of determining what they were observing. "This society is purely hierarchical." She analyzed.

"Queen Hypolita has absolute control over everyone in the village, similar to common monarchies in our own cultural history. They seem to have lived more like Native American Indians back in the good old U S A." She took a breath to watch two young Amazons sparring with broadswords.

"Notice that there are no males, children or otherwise present." Zatanna stated the obvious. "This is therefore a closed society, and doomed to perish. There are no very young women, nor very old women." Lois felt a shiver crawl up her spine. "I don't like where this is going."

Zatanna noted two of the youngest Amazons they'd seen. The girls appeared to be in their early teens, and wrestled in the soft, green, grass at the edge of the thoroughfare. Lois followed her gaze. "They seem to be enjoying themselves." She remarked. "They are practicing _Shak Tar_, or hand to hand, weaponless combat." Tara finally spoke as La Mira edged closer towards the strangers.

Another group of young girls scurried about the village with trays of food, mostly fruits, nuts, and unusual looking leaves. Still other youngsters swept up the hutch landings with homemade brooms. Zatanna viewed as much as she could. "This is a highly organized society, though mostly agrarian."

The young sorceress continued: "It's like they've been stopped in time, as the rest of the world evolved around them. It reminds me of our own subcultures, like for example, the Midwestern Amish. Through strict interpretations of antiquated rules, the society thrives, yet refuses to submit to the pressures of change." Zatanna concluded, as Lois and Clark stared at her.

"What? In between my father and I doing magic shows, I benefited from a diverse education. We toured the world, learning about other cultures as we performed." She explained. Clark nodded. "It sounds fascinating." Zatanna smirked. "Clark, after we leave this alternate reality, maybe you should learn more about the world you've been entrusted to save."  
Lois missed the subtle hint, but Clark didn't. _Zatanna knew_! The sorceress had somehow learned of his secret, and possible destiny. The magician let her comment hang in the air, moving forward past Lois. Clark flushed, dropping back to speak with La Mira.

"Clark." He extended a hand towards the young Amazon. She draped her broadsword over her shoulder, and shook it. "You're new here aren't you?" He pressed her for information. "As are you." La Mira replied coldly. "What made you join the Amazons?" Clark interrogated.

"My country is in the process of being conquered by the Spaniards. Our village was attacked, and many of us, the youngest and fastest runners, escaped into the countryside." La Mira explained. "I boarded a ship, stowing away to come here. I learned the way of the Amazons. One day I will return to my country, defeat the Spaniards, and avenge my family's deaths."

Clark felt bad for La Mira, but understood her position. "Many girls share the same upbringing and motivation." La Mira continued. "We all strive for the day that the Amazon Nation will rise up and conquer Man's World. It is decreed by the goddesses, Artemiss, Hera, and Percephany."

Clark sighed. La Mira had been totally brainwashed by the Amazon leaders. Suddenly a circular object, similar to a Frisbee, about ten inches in diameter, whizzed past them, impacting a nearby tree. "Whoa! That could take someone's head off!" Lois exclaimed as she warily glanced around.

"Sorry about that." A tall, dark haired woman a bit older than them said. She was dressed in all black, and carried a vicious looking, sheathed broadsword across her back. She smiled at Clark, a very unusual reaction for an Amazon, Zatanna mused. The woman pulled the circular object, which was actually a type of metal ring, from the tree and tossed it to a short haired, blonde Amazon nearby.

Tara yanked a large rope down from an old tree. Lois stopped in her tracks. "She's not going to hang us, is she?" Zatanna glanced at her worriedly. "I hope not, Lois. Don't give her any ideas." Clark had rejoined his friends, and La Mira now walked side by side with them.

The rope Tara yanked on had opened a large wooden door just ahead of them. Clark noted that the door acted similarly to a garage door, and was about the same length, height, and width. The door had barred the entrance to a small courtyard. More huts were visible on either side of the large pathway.

Children played in the courtyard, kicking homemade balls around, roughly the circumference of a soccer ball. Others challenged each other with small wooden swords, practicing their sparring ability. Still others practiced tying strands of rope and vines together. All of the kids were female.

Lois gasped, asking Tara the obvious question: "Where are the male children?" The Amazon warrior glanced back at her strangely. "Male children?" She echoed as the chills again ran up and down Lois's spine.


	5. Chapter 5: Amazons!

Chapter 3: Amazons!

What did you do with the male children?" Lois's voice rose, attracting unwanted attention. Tara's eyes widened, shocked that the strange woman would challenge her. Women of the man's world are very unusual, she mentally observed. Don't they fear death?

"As always, after an Amazon is permitted to mate, the offspring is brought to term." Tara somehow found the patience to explain. "All female offspring are cared for, nursed, fed, and trained in the Amazon tradition of warfare and self reliance."

"The male offspring…" Lois steeled herself for Tara's comments. "The male offspring are nursed for a bit, and then sent upriver to the man's world." She pointed to the nearby rushing river that snaked through Amazon country and into the nearest neighboring villages.

"Sent upriver?" Lois was horrified. "In what?" Tara stared at Lois blankly. The woman was fearless, she mused, gaining some respect for Clark's best friend. "In a large basket. The males are picked out of the river upstream by the others." Tara continued.

"What if they're not?" Lois snapped angrily. "That is not our concern." Tara said defensively. Lois put her hands on her shapely hips, and then brushed her hair back, obviously trying to control her temper. Clark was disgusted. In his mind they still had to respect the Amazon culture's tradition.

"Lois! Relax!" Zatanna urged. "I've seen quite enough!" Lois complained loudly. In seconds, Diana was once again by their side. She'd moved so quickly, that even Clark hadn't tracked her. Tara bowed to the Princess. "Thank you, Tara. You may resume your duties. I will lead the visitors."

"As you wish, Princess." Tara said, and quickly jogged off, glad to be rid of Clark and his friends. Diana resumed her spot, putting her arm within Clark's, Lois noted jealously.  
"How did your talk go with your mother?" Clark prodded, smiling again at Diana.

Lois rolled her eyes as she and Zatanna trailed them at a slight distance. "Thank you for asking, Clark Kent." The young princess beamed. "She was able to understand my quandary."

"Which is?" Clark probed. "How to win you from Lois and Amarice to be my mate." Diana replied, resting her head on Clark's shoulder. Thankfully, her hair smelled of fresh flowers, Clark observed. Lois gasped and Zatanna cursed under her breath.

Terrific! Clark mentally grumbled. "Diana, thank you for the complement, but you know as well as I that we don't belong here." Lois's eyes widened. We're dead! Her mind filled with dread. "I don't understand." Diana's eyes showed that she was truly hurt by Clark's rejection.

Clark stopped and put both of Diana's hands in his, and looked deeply into her eyes. He almost wanted to stay with her. "We can't stay." Clark said a bit more sternly. Lois mentally visualized the three of them hanging upside down from the trees at the entrance to the Amazon's forest glen.

Go ahead, Clark, piss the princess off, Lois thought sourly. "You said yourself that we were part of the man's world. Your mother would never accept us." Superman reasoned with Diana. "I shall go with you then!" Diana held Clark tightly, and he actually felt her crushing embrace.

"Ouch! Didn't see that one coming!" Lois muttered, as Zatanna frowned. Clark was about to explain further, when his enhanced hearing picked up a new sound echoing throughout the placid forest. "What's that?" He asked no one, turning his head sideways. He'd heard three distinct booms.

"Canon fire?" Clark gasped, freaking out Lois and Zatanna. Sure enough, three whistling cannonballs hurtled through the air towards them. From what he remembered about world history around 1812, warring armies on the land and the sea mostly used canons. They were used as the ultimate weapon for this time period. Where were they exactly? He wondered, though it soon became irrelevant.

"What is that horrible noise, Clark Kent?" Diana had picked up the sound of incoming ballistics shortly after he had. "It's death!" Clark snarled and spotted the first of the cannonballs. "Diana! Call a retreat! Have your Amazon sisters gather the children and head towards the sea!" He ordered.

"Retreat?" Diana was stunned. "An Amazon never retreats! We either die in battle or claim victory!" Lois shook her head, and said: "There's a whole gray area there called self preservation!" She commented. "Diana! Give the order! Trust me! You don't want this much heat!" Clark urged.

"Do it!" Zatanna yelled at Diana. "You trust Clark Kent's judgment, sorceress?" The young princess asked warily. "Always!" Zatanna confirmed. "I trust Clark with my life!" Lois added, as she prepared to sprint for cover. Suddenly, the spell book lit up in Lois's hands.

"That was the key!" Zatanna exclaimed. "The spell book wanted you to earn Clark's trust!" Lois stared at her. "Why didn't it just tell me? Wait a minute, what am I saying?" Diana was confused, but noted that Clark had suddenly disappeared. "Where is Clark Kent?" She demanded. "Did he flee?"

Clark zipped towards the oncoming cannonballs, leaping upward and catching one in his hand like a baseball shortstop. He hurled it right back at the attacking war party, making certain that it missed any soldiers. The cannonball blew a hole in a commanding officer's tent, startling him.

He found the other two canon shots, but one had already gotten past them, and had luckily only damaged Queen Hypolita's temple, smashing and fracturing one of the ancient stone columns.

Clark caught the second cannonball and slammed it into the ground, like a player spiking a football. It created a deep hole in the forest floor. A stream of underground water spewed out like a fountain. Clark closed in on the advancing army. His intention was to obliterate the army's weaponry.

Meanwhile, a few of the Amazon patrol girls returned from scouting, bloodied and beaten up, but alive. They each carried a standard issue musket, or a bayonet rifle. "Queen Hypolita!" Tara yelled as the eldest Amazon scrambled down her temple's steps to meet the injured warriors.

"What have you brought us?" Hypolita asked curiously. "These are man's weapons!" A younger Amazon replied. She fiddled with the bayonet rifle, trying to gain an idea of how to use it. Diana joined them and gawked at the oddly crafted devices. "I suppose we can use these like swords, staffs, or javelin spears." The princess observed. Lois noticed their artifacts.

"Give me that!" Lois grabbed one bayonet rifle. "You're going to put your eye out!" Lois examined the piece under the close scrutiny of Hypolita and Diana. "Here! You cock this end, and aim, looking from behind the butt." Lois explained calmly as Diana glanced at her backside. "The butt?"

Lois sighed patiently. "The butt of the rifle, genius! Observe!" She aimed the bayonet rifle at a tree trunk some distance away and squeezed the trigger. Blam! The Amazons covered their ears and scattered. The ordinance impacted the tree, blasting a hole in its bark.

"It's rather noisy." Hypolita commented. "Not at all good for stealth." Zatanna grimaced at Lois. "Don't encourage them!" She grumbled. "I just want them to have a fighting chance. I hate one sided battles." Lois argued as she re-cocked the rifle.

Clark had reached the enemy camp and began to systematically destroy canon after canon. He proceeded with blinding speed until he found the army's commander. He slowed to a stop and was beside General Napoleon!

The commander was about half Clark's weight and barely reached five feet in height. Napoleon swore in French, as all of the local soldiers trained their weapons on him.


	6. Chapter 6: Girls With Guns

Girls with Guns

_Guest starring a certain well known warrior princess_:

Diana examined a two shot musket, waving it around aimlessly. "How does this one work?" She asked Lois as Hypolita edged away. "Let's see." Diana handed Lois the antique musket. Lois deftly snapped the musket in half at its hinge. "You've broken it!" Tara complained loudly.

"It's supposed to do that." Lois deadpanned. "Here's the flint…" She remarked, as Zatanna grew impatient. "It's of no use without the powder and balls." Lois said. "Tara, did you see…?" The young Amazon was a step ahead of her. "You mean the balls, and the odd smelling spice?" Tara retrieved them from her sword sheath. "Yes." Lois took the items from her.

The tall dark haired Amazon clad in black leather and her shorter, blonde friend, dressed in brown fringed buckskin, approached Lois and the other girls cautiously. "May I see it?" The shorter one asked. Lois reluctantly handed her the musket. She immediately sniffed the powder.

_Echoes of the Past_

"What do you think?" The black haired one asked. "It smells like the spice our friend found in Chin." The blonde replied. Lois eyed her suspiciously. The short one reminded her a lot of Chloe. "Chin? As in China?" Zatanna contributed. "Yes." The tall black haired one confirmed. "It's called gunpowder." Lois added. "Is it?" The black haired one sniffed the muzzle again to be sure.

"What are your names, and how do you know about the powder?" Hypolita grilled. "I'm Zina (American Sp) and this is Gabrielle." The tall one answered. "What tribe are you from?" Diana inquired. "We've just recently arrived here from Greece." Zina replied vaguely.

"Really?" Hypolita was skeptical. "Who was your local queen?" The short blonde faced Hypolita. "Ephiny." She said without any further elaboration. Gabrielle is a queen in her own right." Zina mentioned as Lois glanced at them with confusion. "Indeed?" Diana was surprised.

While the girls discussed politics, Zatanna grew even more impatient. "At least the guns have stopped." She pointed out. "Walk with me Zina, and Gabrielle." Hypolita ordered in an even tone. "I don't believe this." Lois grumbled. "The girls are in the middle of a war, and decide that they want to chit chat?" Zatanna shrugged. "They always seem to be at war. It's normal for them."

"Where's Clark?" Lois asked no one in particular, as she waved the antique musket around carelessly. Suddenly Lois swore that she heard a series of gunshots in the distance. "Uh oh! Zatanna, give me the book." Lois took it and opened it up. "Be careful with it this time." Zatanna reminded her.

Meanwhile, bullets, musket fire, and cannonballs were shelling Clark. His patience was wearing thin. He quickly disarmed the garrison with his blinding speed. It would take them quite a while to restock their weaponry. Clark hoped that he'd bought the overmatched Amazons some time.

He disappeared just as Napoleon ordered his cavalry to reassemble. The Amazons hadn't much time left. Clark zipped into the warrior women's camp, startling the young girls. Some of which dropped their crossbows and buck knifes in the grassy, muddy field.

"Move the children away from the camp!" Clark yelled, as Diana rushed to his side. Lois imagined that the Amazon Princess moved much faster than the average warrior. She made a mental note of that, assuming she'd get the chance to question Diana further.

"Do it!" Diana turned and bellowed at the Amazons. The girls scurried in all directions, gathering supplies, and hastily crafted wooden shields. "They'll be slaughtered!" Clark snarled at Lois and Zatanna. "There's a full garrison of Napoleon's French Army just across that ridge. I managed to delay them a bit, but the girls have to leave now!"

"Napoleon?" Lois echoed. "I suck at history." Diana barked a series of orders, as she directed the chaos. Even Lois was impressed with the young princess's grace under pressure. "Where's the queen?" Clark asked, though he could've just as easily located Hypolita on his own. "She took a couple of the warriors into the temple with her." Zatanna explained.

Clark vaulted up the steps, shocking the local tribal members. No one, absolutely no one, was allowed into the temple without Hypolita or Diana's expressed permission, let alone a man. Tara assumed her second in command status, helping to lead the younger Amazons towards the sea.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Lois commented as Zatanna rolled her eyes. Clark blasted into the temple, where Hypolita openly gawked at his brazen effrontery of their sacred ground. The one called Zina smirked, making sure that Hypolita hadn't seen her. "Just like Hercules." Gabrielle muttered.

"Ladies! Let's go!" Clark urged. "There's a full fledged army heading in this direction!" Zina and Gabrielle exchanged glances. "The more things change…" Zina began. "The more they stay the same." Gabrielle finished. "Clark Kent! I have been more than patient with you…" Hypolita began. Before she knew it, Clark had knocked the queen out, and held her carefully in his arms.

"I always liked the direct approach." Zina commented as Clark headed for the rear of the temple. He'd spotted a secondary passageway, which led from the temple into a dark tunnel and presumably through the hillside to the sea on the other side.

Clark carried Hypolita at about half his hyper speed. Zina and Gabrielle couldn't keep up. "He runs like Hermes!" Gabrielle muttered as they lost sight of him. Diana, meanwhile, had entered the temple, and ventured into a hidden room. There she located the blessed outfit given to the Amazons long ago by Hera or Artemis themselves. The outfit was alleged to have magical powers.

Alongside the red, blue, and gold outfit was a golden lasso and two silver bracelets. Diana collected everything and stuffed them into a sack made from animal skins. She returned to the compound where Lois and Zatanna began to jog behind the rest of the warrior women.

"We can't leave without Clark." Lois said excitedly. "Trust me Lois, Clark Kent is well on his way toward the sea." Gabrielle remarked, having come up beside them. "What good will that do?" Zatanna wondered. "Wouldn't we be trapped between the sea and the advancing army?"

Zina joined them. "We'll have to help ourselves to a ship." She grinned, as her light blue eyes sparkled. "A ship?" Lois echoed. "Are we just going to ask a ship captain nicely for a ride?" Gabrielle snickered. "Something like that."


	7. Chapter 7: All I Ask Is a Tall Ship

_**All I Ask is a Tall Ship...**_

Clark carried Hypolita out of the tunnel, and as he suspected, the Sea was just beyond it. The wharf was filled with nearly a dozen early nineteenth century ships. Captains and crew, as well as dockworkers, scurried about the busy port. Would the hyperactive seaside business district even notice several scantily clad young Amazon women? You bet they would, Clark thought.

Zina, Gabrielle, Lois, and Zatanna gawked at the ludicrous sight. Just before them were two huge merchant ships, made from the various forms of the popular available woods of the day. One ship was a brightly colored, three masted, schooner, its sails still furled. The Perth Amboy, was the ship's name, as painted proudly across its huge bow. The ship easily stood three stories high above the wharf.

The second ship was slight in frame, sporting two masts, it's light blue sails flapped gently in the onshore breeze. It still stood two stories above the ebony wood dock. Its name was Dark Angel. Lois whistled. "Will you just look at that, Smallville? Live museum pieces!" Clark ignored her comment as he gently placed the still unconscious Hypolita against some soft cargo sacks piled high on the dock.

Zina, Gabrielle, and Zatanna scrambled to keep ahead of the fastest running Amazon girls. Tara, Amarice, and another youngster skidded to a stop beside them on the slimy wharf. "Can the Amazons board the ships unnoticed?" Zatanna inquired. "I doubt it. We'll need a plan B." Clark replied.

Using his x-ray vision, Clark surveyed both ships. As luck would have it, they had a skeleton crew. One hoped that he didn't mean that literally. There were but five crewmen on the Perth Amboy, and about a dozen on the Dark Angel. The Amazons could easily overrun them.

Clark wanted to avoid any killing, keeping in mind that they could very well be interfering with history on a grand scale. "We're going to try and book passage on both ships." He announced. Lois glanced at him like he'd grown a third eye in the middle of his forehead.

"With what money?" Lois grumbled. "I doubt that credit cards have been invented yet, let alone travel agents." Clark shrugged. "I'll have to give it a try." Lois nodded. "Be quick about it. Napoleon and his goon squad ought to be here soon." Clark searched his pockets for coins, knowing that the paper dollar bill wouldn't be invented for nearly another fifty years.

He came up with three quarters and two dimes. Clark spied a person who appeared to be the captain of the larger vessel. Lois took a step in that direction. "Wait! Lois, you and the others stay here, and let Diana know what we're up against." Clark directed. Lois sighed angrily. "Whatever!"

"You two, come with me!" He gestured towards Tara and Amarice. "We take orders from no man!" Tara hissed. "Fine! Please come with me!" Clark retorted. Amarice fell into step behind him, and Tara reluctantly followed. Lois crossed her arms with disdain, or was it something else?

Clark hustled up to the captain of the Perth Amboy. The dark skinned seaman stared at him blankly, but quickly spotted the partially clothed young women, and smirked lustily. "Excuse me, are you the captain of this ship?" Clark began warily. "That depends who is asking." Clark extended a hand to him. "Clark Kent." The captain's eyes narrowed. "Captain Imaglia, out of Cape Town."

"We'd like to book passage on your ship." Clark didn't waste any more time on pleasantries. "Really?" Imaglia laughed. "The Perth is not a passenger ship, mon. We sail with cargo only, unless you have something to offer in trade." He stared at the young women.  
"Would this be enough?" Clark opened his hand, revealing two of the quarters. "Two pieces of silver?" Imaglia looked closely at them. Clark expected the captain to laugh in his face. Instead, Imaglia nodded grudgingly. "You must be desperate to leave, mon."

"Where is it you wish to travel to, and how many of you are there?" Imaglia glanced around nervously. "Um...Greece?" Clark hadn't thought of where to go to. "Greece?" Imaglia groaned. "That is many days travel from here. Have you business there, mon?"

Clark gulped, quickly spinning some more lies. "My wives and I would like to visit the homeland." Tara gasped and Amarice stifled a giggle. "Would you? Your wives, eh?" Imaglia was skeptical, yet amused. "Can I take a look around, at least? You know, on your ship." Clark baited.

"Fine, but de women stay here." Imaglia insisted. "It is bad luck to sail with a woman." Tara was about to go off, but Amarice cast her a threatening gaze. "Good enough." Clark said, turning back to the girls. "When I give the signal, you two untie the ship's ropes, got it?"

Amarice nodded. "What signal?" Tara asked with irritation. "You'll know it when you see it." Clark's eyes sparkled. He followed Imaglia up the gangplank and on board the Perth. Once out of the girls' sight, he super sped throughout the Perth, gathering and tying up the remaining crew.

Clark shoved the captain and the others into a meat locker beside the galley. "Now!" He shouted at the girls from high on deck. Tara and Amarice whipped out their daggers and sliced the ropes tying the ship to the dock. Simultaneously, Clark zipped down the gangplank.

All this time, Diana had been herding the Amazons through the temple and into the tunnel. She trailed the group, making sure that every last one of them escaped. "My sisters! Take only what is most needed, water, food, and weapons. Take all that you can carry. We will not be returning!"

The Amazons poured out of the tunnel, across the ridge, and onto the wharf. "Let's move!" Zina shouted, as Gabrielle, Lois, and Zatanna stormed the smaller vessel. "We can't kill anyone!" Zatanna yelled over the din of a thousand Amazon feet padding along the wooden dock.

"We're taking a ship, no two?" Lois hollered. "Where will we go?" She asked Gabrielle, who preceded her up the Dark Angel's gangplank. "Greece?" She asked Zina. "That's a long way from here. I don't think we have enough, actually any, supplies that would last that long."

Hypolita had awakened, and angrily ran up the gangplank beside them. "I may have an idea, but it is by no means written in stone." She shouted, as the first wave of Amazons overran the ship. Clark's speed had gotten him aboard the Dark Angel first. He'd subdued the crew without hurting them, much.

"Who's going to drive this thing?" Zatanna complained as she scrambled down the Dark Angel's gangplank. "Zina?" Gabrielle inquired. "Well, it's been a while, Gabrielle, say almost two thousand years, but I suppose it can't be much different than my old ships."

"Without the stars to guide us, how can we find our way?" Gabrielle questioned. "Compass!" Lois snapped, handing the antique relic that she'd found beside the giant wooden steering wheel to Zina. "It always points due North." Zina nodded. "Handy." Lois vaulted onto the pier.

Clark and Diana waited on the wharf, back to back, as the last of the Amazons boarded the vessels. The irate crews of the soon to be hijacked ships had noticed the girls stealing their livelihood. They came at Diana and Clark with swords drawn. A few had simple one shot muskets. Some merely picked up boards, wrenches, and other tools and began to swing at them recklessly.

"Cast off!" Diana shouted over the din. Two more Amazons obediently cut the ship's tethers. Lois had boarded the Perth, along with Zatanna. "Lois! Can you sail this thing?" The young sorceress yelled. "I guess! I mean how hard can it be? I've sailed boats before." Lois took the large wheel.

Zina, Gabrielle, and Hypolita remained aboard the Dark Angel. The ancient warrior princess immediately took command as Hypolita watched helplessly as her daughter and Clark staved off the attacking longshoremen.

The Perth, with Lois at the helm clumsily shifted away from the dock. She'd already given the order for Tara and Amarice to weigh anchor. Zina fared only slightly better, steering the Dark Angel away from the larger cruiser. The mob closed in on Clark and Diana.

"Diana, do you trust me?" Clark whirled to face the young princess. "With my life, Clark Kent, and this is a helluva time to ask." Diana replied. Clark immediately grabbed Diana by her slim waist, and leapt upward high into the air, soaring over the churning water between them and the Perth.

Clark soared through the air with Diana in his arms, landing softly atop the main deck of the Perth. "Great Aphrodite! You are blessed by the Gods!" Diana exclaimed, as Clark reddened. "Hardly." He said with humility. "I'm just different."

Lois had assumed command of the Perth by default. The young Amazons stood nearby, staring vacantly, as Lois maneuvered the huge schooner away from the dock. She noisily slammed the Perth into a marking buoy. It did no damage to the ship, but gave everyone a jolt.

Zatanna held onto the magic book tightly with both hands. It was still their only ticket back to their own time. Clark set Diana down, and she followed him closely towards Lois. Immediately, the Amazons bowed as their young princess leapt to the captain's level like a gazelle.

"Lois! What the hell are you doing?" Clark yelled as he came up behind her. "What's it look like I'm doing, Smallville? I'm piloting a three-story, two hundred year old, multi-masted ship away from a strange European dock! It was good of you to join us!" She snarled. "Princess!"

Diana rolled her eyes at Lois's acknowledgement. "Gods protect us!" She remarked. "Hoist the sails!" She barked orders at the still bowing young Amazons. Clark found the scene ludicrous, but amusing, as he helped Lois steer the ship towards the open waters.

Zina piloted the Dark Angel skillfully taking care to avoid the Perth's blindside and wake. Hypolita glanced over her shoulder at the ancient warrior princess. The Gods behave in strange ways, she silently mused. "I guess that it all came back to me, Gabrielle." Zina commented.

By now, a couple of other ships had realized what happened. They began to set sail after the allegedly hijacked schooners. Lois muscled the Perth past the breakwater and the Dark Angel followed suit. Clark knew that he had to get some more running room out of the ship. He was certain that the pursuit craft were armed with starboard, and port canons. They could end their little sea cruise in a hurry.

The problem was where to lead and leave the Amazons, Clark considered. "Smallville! Are you going to stand there gawking, or help me steer the ship?" Lois hissed over the pounding surf. "You're doing great, Lois! I'm going below deck and see if I can get more speed out of the Perth." Clark said, and exited quickly over the side and onto the deck beneath them.

"Grrr! Men!" Lois grumbled, bringing a snicker to Zatanna's lips. Clark made sure that no one was looking, and dove into the Mediterranean Sea. He could hold air underwater for long periods of time, but not indefinitely. Clark grabbed the rear section of the Perth carefully, and shoved the huge ship ahead of the rest, roughly in the general direction of Greece.

"Whoa! That's quite the tailwind!" Lois commented, as the Perth lurched forward. The Amazons were caught off guard, and tumbled in every direction. Fortunately, none of the young women fell overboard. Clark doubled back to shove the Dark Angel along, just behind the Perth.

"That's not normal!" Zina remarked. "Something, or someone is guiding us!"Hypolita rubbed her thin chin. "I wonder…" She mumbled. "Do you think that the Gods have returned, Zina?" Gabrielle asked worriedly. "Maybe…but I don't see how. To be honest with you, I think we finished them off almost two thousand years ago." Zina responded.

Hypolita caught Zina's comment and stared daggers at the honorary Amazon. "You speak as though the gods were defeated by you!" The queen accused. "They were, actually." Zina deadpanned. "But that is another story for another time." Hypolita was skeptical. "I think our savior is much closer, and much more human." Zina smirked. She was about half right…

Clark climbed aboard the Dark Angel, startling Gabrielle, who had just glanced in his direction by chance. She couldn't help but smile at the mysterious young traveler from another place. "Welcome aboard, Clark Kent!" She greeted him cheerfully. "Decided to go for a swim, did you?" Zina teased. "Yeah, more or less." Clark cast her a lopsided grin.

"Don't tell me…" Hypolita challenged. "My errant daughter tossed you over the rail?" Clark smirked, shaking his head. "Queen Hypolita, I'm sorry about the improper way I dragged you through the temple and tunnels." He apologized. Hypolita sighed. "Normally, to touch the queen in such a manner is a sentence of death, Clark Kent, yet somehow I believe that you don't fear death."

"Let's just say that I believe in live and let live." Clark deflected, as Zina chuckled. "A warrior, you're not, Clark Kent. You seem to be more like my best friend, Gabrielle, here." Clark nodded, and promptly changed the subject. "Queen Hypolita, you mentioned a place that we can sail to?" He hinted. "Yes, it is little more than a myth, but as we all know, some myths are based in truths."

The Queen continued: "Legend states that an isle near the coast of Greece, fades in and out of existence. It is not known whether the isle is blessed or cursed by the gods. It seems illogical, but then it could be protected by magic, or a series of enchantments. Perhaps, your sorceress knows more?"

Queen Hypolita let the question hang in the air. Clark was choosing his next words carefully. Clearly, Hypolita knew of Zatanna's powers. "Does this isle have a name?" Clark pressed. "Yes. It is called Themyscira, or Isle of the Lost." Hypolita informed them.


	8. Chapter 8: Battle on The High Sea

**Battle on the High Sea**

"My Queen!" A young Amazon named D'Jenna exclaimed. "Yes D'Jenna?" Hypolita regally turned to face her. "There are two vessels approaching to our rear. They have already fired an iron ball weapon at us. We are fortunate that it missed, sailing overhead."

"Canon fire!" Clark shouted. Zina piloted the Dark Angel closer to the Perth. The smaller ship had only two canons, one to port and one to starboard. Needless to say, no Amazon had ever fired canons before. The Dark Angel would be a sitting duck despite her obvious speed.

Clark couldn't risk killing anyone, and upsetting the overall timeline of the future. He could certainly increase the speed of both ships, as he'd done before, but to what end? They still had no specific destination to flee to. Themyscira, if it even existed, would still be hard to find for a novice.

Once again Clark dove over the side. This is getting old, he silently complained. Arthur Curry, AC, Aquaman, would love this, he mused. Unfortunately the Atlantean wouldn't be born for about another one hundred and seventy five years.

Clark resurfaced beside the Perth, to Lois's vehemently cursing Zatanna's book, as she struggled to maintain their distance from the pursuit craft. "Smallville! This isn't a Caribbean cruise! Stay on board and help!" She snarled. "She's worse than Captain Bligh!" Zatanna grumbled.

Clark smirked as he dripped all over the antique wooden deck. "What're you gonna do, Lois, make me walk the plank?" He teased as he vaulted over Diana to Lois's side. "Don't tempt me, Kent!" Lois retorted over her shoulder. Diana noted Clark's unusual movement.

"Zatanna, we need to find a magical island called Themyscira, like now!" Clark directed as Diana's eyes widened. "Really?" Zatanna frowned. "Any idea where to look?" Clark shrugged. "Somewhere between here and Greece." Lois spat out some seawater that had splashed in her face.

"A magical island?" She parroted. "Like what, The Magic Kingdom? Newsflash, Smallville, Disney won't be born for another hundred years." Zatanna opened the book and started speaking backwards. "Now, what is she doing?" Lois growled as she yanked the wheel towards a particularly strong current. Instantly, the Perth sped up, with the Dark Angel close to the port side.

"I'm casting a locator spell, Lois." Zatanna said angrily. "Now I have to start over, because you interrupted me." Lois sighed, as her arms ached. "Whatever!" Clark decided to give her a break. "Here, Lois, let me take over." He offered. "Anything special about running this thing?"

"Nope. It's not brain surgery." Lois quipped. "Just keep steering towards the open water, and don't hit anything." Clark smiled, and carefully took the wheel. Lois sat behind him, watching Zatanna muttering, and the spell book began to glow. "I have it!" Zatanna said excitedly.

"You've found a magical island?" Lois was skeptical. "I have the coordinates. Clark, here's the heading." Zatanna spouted out a set of numbers by degrees. Clark followed them closely, spinning the wheel to the starboard side. A few Amazons fell on the deck and cursed in their native tongues.

Zina deftly matched the course and speed of the Dark Angel, and the ships sailed on. The problem was that the last set of coordinates put them right in the path of the pursuing ships.

A battle would be inevitable, unless Clark could give both ships a boost of speed. Even with his amazing powers, Clark couldn't easily drag two large ships toward Greece. One would always lag behind. The Perth was more of a match for the attack schooners, the Dark Angel wouldn't be. He'd have to decide which ship to possibly sacrifice.

In Clark's mind, any loss of life wasn't acceptable. In truth, most people believe that the Amazon nation was a myth. It was very likely that the Amazons had been killed during the War of 1812, most likely by the French Army. Clark was about to change history again.

"We have to turn and fight." Clark announced. Lois, Zatanna, and Diana all gawked at him in unison. "Now just a minute, Smallville, I thought the idea was to avoid being sent to Davy Jones Locker." Lois protested. "We can't cover the Dark Angel. Zina has to go on with Hypolita, and the majority of the Amazons. The Perth is more of a match for the assault craft."

Diana glanced longingly at her mother, standing proudly near the bow of the smaller ship. "I concur. Clark Kent speaks truth." She faced the puzzled young Amazons perched atop the captain's level. "We are not afraid to die, my Princess!" Tara shouted from the lower deck.

"Today is a good day to die!" Amarice yelled, raising her crossbow. The rest of the warrior women hooted, hollered, and stamped their feet on the deck. Clark slowed the Perth to a dead stop, swinging the ship around to face its pursuers. This gave the canon firers a smaller target to hit.

Lois tenderly put her hand on Clark's shoulder. "I admire a good seaman's bravado any day, Smallville, but are you sure that we can't outrun them if not outgun them?" Clark smirked and his eyes sparkled. "Don't worry, I have a plan." Lois shuddered. "Isn't that what General Custer said?"

"First, Diana, get all of the Amazons off the Perth." Clark directed. "I assume the girls can all swim?" Diana's mouth dropped. "What?" Meanwhile, the Dark Angel slowed to a stop behind the Perth. "You heard me." Clark pointed out. "Send your Amazon sisters to the Dark Angel."

"You're going to ram them?" Lois was horrified. "Something like that." Clark grumbled. "Very well, Clark Kent, I hope you know what you are doing." Diana shook her head, allowing her long raven black hair to blow in the crosswinds, which buffeted the Perth's five broad sails.

"Sisters! Into the sea!" Diana barked the order. "Swim together! Help each other!" Lois instinctively reached for her cell phone, reddening. "Oops! I forgot that I've no one to call. How do we tell Zina and the others what we're doing? We only have a few minutes!"

"As you command, Princess! Hera protect you!" Tara wished them good luck. She helped the other girls to the lowest deck of the Perth. "Lower the rowboats!" Lois yelled, as two women began to slacken the ropes holding the four escape boats to the side of the Perth.

The girls piled in, and the rowboats splashed into the swells. Tara and Amarice were the last two Amazons to board them. Amarice blew Clark a kiss, making him blush. "Here's one for you, Lois Lane." Amarice teased as she blew Lois a kiss.

Zatanna, meanwhile, was frantically casting spells as quickly as she could recite them. There were spells for luck, spells for protection, and spells for invisibility. She hoped at least some of them would work. They wouldn't know for sure, unless all of the Amazons made it on board the Dark Angel.  
The muscular, athletically built Amazons, rowed to the Dark Angel speedily, despite the pounding surf. Once they came upon the port side of the schooner, D'Jenna, and the other girls were busily throwing lines into the rowboats. They then reeled the rowboats up to the lowest deck.

The warrior women quickly disembarked, assuming assault positions at every entrance to the Dark Angel in case they were boarded. Zina and Hypolita figured out what Clark was up to, and they were none too happy. "He's going to sacrifice himself for all of us." Tara explained to Hypolita.

"So is Diana." Amarice tearfully added. "Lois Lane and the sorceress will die too." Hypolita took a moment to analyze Clark's strategy. Zina and Gabrielle put in their two cents as well. "He's so similar to Hercules, it's scary." The short blonde bard said. Zina nodded in agreement.

"We will send them some help!" Hypolita sneered. "Tara, D'Jenna, free the prisoners…after you toss them into the rowboats. Perhaps the men will seek to recover their own and leave us be." Zina agreed that it was a sound strategy. Any distraction at all may permit them time to escape.

Soon the Dark Angel's all male crew were in the rowboats, bouncing in the churning Mediterranean Sea, cursing impressively. "They are like an angry nest of hornets." D'Jenna snickered. The crew rowed furiously towards the Perth. By now, the two pursuit craft were within cannonball firing distance of the Perth. Diana stood high atop the captain's bridge and waved the Dark Angel on.

"I don't like running from a fight." Zina complained to Gabrielle. "I know, Zina, but we have the Amazons' future to consider." She pointed out. "D'Jenna!" Zina yelled at the young warrior. "How would you like to steer the Dark Angel?" Gabrielle shook her head, her golden locks reflecting the bright midday sun.

"Can I?" D'Jenna asked eagerly. "Sure, it's simple." Zina explained. In moments, D'Jenna had learned the procedure and steadily held the wheel. "Coming Gabrielle?" Zina smiled. "You knew I would! Just don't get us killed…again." Gabrielle grinned.

Zina ripped down one rope leading from the mast, grabbed Gabrielle by her thin waist, and with her trademark bloodcurdling yell, swung them across the waves, above the crew in the rowboat, and onto the lowest deck of the Perth.

They landed clumsily near Diana. "Welcome aboard, Zina of Amphipolous." Zina gaped at the young princess. "You knew?" Gabrielle was skeptical. "I wasn't sure…until now." Diana admitted. "We will talk later." Diana vaulted up to the captain's level, and Zina followed suit.


	9. Chapter 9: Wonder

**Chapter 7**: _Wonder_

Lois and Zatanna helped the last of the Amazons off the Perth. "We can't sail her by ourselves." Zina pointed out. "That is not Clark Kent's plan, Zina." Diana informed the ancient warrior princess. "You're going to ram both ships?" Gabrielle was incredulous. It seemed uncharacteristically violent a move for their strange young friend from the Man's World.

Clark nodded as Diana slipped away for a moment. "I thought that only the captain was supposed to go down with the ship." Lois remarked sarcastically. "It seems a shame to scuttle her. This would make a great museum piece, or a ride at an amusement park." Gabrielle stared at Lois blankly.

"I've located Themyscira, at least I think so." Zatanna announced. "There's an anomaly at the center of the Mediterranean Sea. It appears to be a land mass." Zina eyed Zatanna suspiciously. "Are you sure, sorceress?" Zina's tone was deadly. It had been her experience that magic wasn't a trustworthy way to decide one's path in life, and it always had some kind of a price to pay.

"Yes, I'm sure." Zatanna looked Zina right in the eye. It was rumored that an Amazon could tell if a man was lying to her by simply looking into his eyes. Zatanna hoped that it didn't work that way for women. She wasn't at all sure that her scrying spell had revealed Themyscira. Clark knew that the mysterious island existed. He'd been there once or twice with his version of Diana.

The young Amazon princess headed down into the captain's quarters, where she'd hidden her precious prize, the unique piece of her people's history. She unceremoniously tossed the animal skin bag onto the captain's creaky wooden bed, opening it, and displaying its contents.

Diana reverently laid the colorful outfit on the bed. The package contained the sacred armor of ancient Amazon lore. Legend held that the gods themselves had created the outfit to ensure the continuation into the future of their beloved Amazons, a unique creation of Hera, queen of the Olympians. Diana pronounced some sacred words as she prayed to the silent Greek Gods.

The armor had a red and gold top half, and a golden bird of prey imprinted upon the breastplate. The bottom half was royal blue, and also contained a golden belt. Along with the outfit, Diana found two silver metal bracers, a long golden lasso, and a small pouch of reddish gold food.

The young princess pronounced some more sacred words, and stripped off her dusty white tunic, quickly clothing herself in the blessed armor. "Hmmm! It's a little loose." She griped aloud. "Perhaps I'll grow into it." Instantly, the armor molded itself to her svelte physique.

"That saves the trouble of sewing and refitting." She quipped. Diana snapped the silver bracers onto her thin wrists, and tied the golden lasso and the food bag around her thin waist. After some silent words of thanks to the gods, Diana was ready for battle.

Before she could gather her thoughts, she floated to the cabin's ceiling, bumping her head on the old wooden rafters. "By the gods! I can fly!" she exclaimed, and willed herself back down to the floor. By now, Clark had stopped the Perth, placing the larger ship between the Dark Angel and the pursuit craft. The last of the Amazons had boarded the small schooner safely.

Back topside, Lois was hanging on Clark's every word. "We should at least try and take out the pursuit vessels' sails!" She suggested. "That could slow them down at the very least."

He considered her plan briefly. It couldn't hurt, he decided. They just had to make sure that the canons on the Perth were aimed high enough not to injure the crews.

Lois, Zatanna, Zina, and Gabrielle lined the captain's bridge, unsure of what to do next. "We could board the pursuit craft, and fight them hand to hand." Zina said, predictably. "No. Too risky." Clark shot down. "Someone could get killed." Zina rolled her big blue eyes. "Maybe we can just maim them all a bit." The leather clad warrior princess half pleaded, cracking Gabrielle up.

"I'm all for that." Lois said bravely. "It beats skulking around out here like sitting ducks, waiting for them to annihilate us." Clark shook his head. "No. We can defeat them my way, and save the Amazons as well." Gabrielle now found herself infatuated with the strange young man. She sidled up to him, and patted him tenderly on the shoulder.

"Is he always that stubborn?" Zina questioned Lois. "Yes." She answered without hesitation. "Not unlike someone else I know." Gabrielle threw in the playful dig. Zatanna rechecked the magical coordinates to Themyscira, or at least what appeared to be a land mass shrouded in thick fog.

Diana suddenly reappeared on deck, hovering above the nearest wooden bulkhead. "Whoa! Diana! Nice outfit!" Lois praised. "Is now the appropriate time to wear a teddy, even a cool looking one like that?" Diana stared at Lois blankly. "This is sacred Amazon armor." The young princess explained patiently. "Diana! You can fly?" Gabrielle openly gawked. "You are truly blessed by the gods."

Diana clumsily landed beside Clark, who didn't seem at all fazed by her change of wardrobe, after all, he'd seen it a number of times before, or would see it. Zina whistled. "Pretty fancy! But is it tough enough armor to deflect any attack?"

Diana ignored her, instead choosing to lean closely on Clark, which disrupted his concentration on the Perth. "This is a sacred garment." She began. "Legend tells us that it was created specifically for the Amazon queen by Hera herself, before someone helped to destroy the Olympian gods." Diana stared squarely at Zina, who reddened. Gabrielle put her head in her hands.

"Hey it was either them or me." Zina defended. "I saved the world, to say nothing of Gabrielle, my daughter, Eve, or Hercules." Diana shrugged. "The past is the past." She added diplomatically, like a true leader of a nation. Zatanna examined the getup. "You say that it's magical?"

"The red signifies the Amazon lust for blood, the gold signifies tribute to Helios, god of the sun, as well as the golden bird of prey, which signifies the glory of the hunt." Diana continued. "The blue symbolizes the freedom to rule the sky and also a mastery of the sea, as instructed by the god Poseidon."

Zatanna listened with interest, as a student of history, wondering if she could somehow use the magical abilities in Diana's outfit to amplify her own magical spells. "These silver bracers were said to be forged by Hephaestus, the god of metallurgy himself as a gift to Hera." Diana continued.

"This golden lasso…" She playfully roped Clark, further hampering his steering ability. "Was said to have been created by Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. It has magical properties…like any man under its control must tell the truth and do my bidding." Diana grinned lustily, on quite a power trip.

Clark struggled, but amazingly couldn't break the golden lasso's grip. Zatanna noted that for future reference. "Hey! That's pretty handy!" Lois laughed. "You don't have an extra one that I can use, do you?" Zatanna snickered haughtily. "Wouldn't that just take the fun out of everything?" She joked.

"I mean what would men and women have to fight about?" She added.

"Clark? Do you love me?" Diana shocked everyone with her directness. His alien mind was unaffected by Diana's lasso. He found her annoying attempt to make him tell the truth quite a distraction. "Diana, I love you as a friend." Clark said smoothly.

The Amazon princess looked downtrodden. "So I thought as much." She said in a depressed tone, releasing Clark from the lasso's grip. "I don't need a magic rope to tell me that you truly love Lois Lane." Clark and Lois both reddened. Lois changed the subject.

"Diana, what's in the pouch?" She pointed to the greenish brown bag. "Some type of food. Would you like some? I have no appetite." Diana opened the bag, and gave Lois a small piece of the reddish pink fruit. She smelled it. "Smells good, sweet, like a pear or peach." Lois nipped off a small edge, chewing it over and over. "Not bad. It seems bitter, though."

Lois felt an immediate power rush. "Wow! That has some kick to it. I'll be on a sugar buzz all day." Zina and Gabrielle hadn't really been paying attention to the scene that Diana and Clark had created. They were busy watching the Dark Angel's escape from above the port deck.

The small schooner was still astern, but making some good headway away from them. The Dark Angel was nearly at a flanking position from the pursuit craft. D'Jenna's piloting skills must have accelerated quickly, Zina assumed. "Diana! We don't have time for this!" She snapped.

As if on cue, the first cannonball flew at them from the nearest pursuit ship. Fortunately, it zipped wide right, and merely tore off a piece of the stern railing, injuring no one. "Game on!" Lois yelled frantically. Diana reattached the lasso to her belt, and assumed the starboard watch position.

D'Jenna continued to steer the Dark Angel away from the inevitable melee. The young Amazon used the profile of the Perth to mask their direction of flight. Hypolita sadly watched from the captain's deck behind D'Jenna, knowing that it could be the last time she saw her daughter, the strange, brave young man, Clark Kent, or the others. The queen was infuriated.

As D'Jenna plotted a parallel course to the attacking schooners, the Amazon crew figured out how to use the cannonballs and black powder. "Ready, my Queen." Tara stated bravely. "Fire!" Hypolita shouted. "By your command!" Tara lit the cannon fuse and stepped back.

Boom! The first ball was away, and Amarice fired a second one. Both cannonballs hit their target, skewering the closest schooner just above the water line. "We are Amazons!" Hypolita shouted. "We will not go quietly into the night!" The Dark Angel fired two more volleys.

"No!" Clark hollered angrily, slamming his fist against the wheel, and knocking it off its stand.


	10. Chapter 10: Resolute

**Chapter 8** – _Resolute_

"Oh brilliant move, Smallville!" Lois grumbled. "Now how are we supposed to steer the Perth?" Zatanna frantically flipped through the spell book. "There must be something…" she muttered as Clark got his temper under control, picking up the damaged wheel.

He pounded the wheel back onto its stand, and lucky for them it still controlled the rudder. As the Dark Angel sped away, she fired two more rounds at the pursuit craft. One cannonball did take out a lower sail mast, substantially slowing the second ship.

Clark angrily brushed the hair from his eyes and forehead. "Come on, Lois! You and I are going to aim the Perth's cannons at the upper mainsails of the ships. I can't trust the Amazons to listen to what I say. Zina, can you take the wheel?" The ancient warrior princess didn't quite know what to make of him. "Sure, Clark." She edged onto the captain's deck.

Zina reexamined his clothes as he passed her by. Admittedly, she had never seen anything like them, and still couldn't place what part of the world their unusual visitors were from. Granted it had been eighteen plus centuries since Zina and Gabrielle had first walked the Earth, but these people were very different. The cultures seemed familiar, yet completely unique.

Gabrielle had followed her best friend's gaze. "They're not from this time or ours, are they?" She guessed correctly. "No, I don't think so." Zina replied. "The obvious question is why are they here, then?" Gabrielle shrugged. "Do you think that the gods of Olympus have returned?"

Zina shook her head, allowing her raven black hair to scatter in the brisk sea breezes. "No, that's very doubtful, yet something still isn't adding up." Gabrielle watched longingly as Clark and Lois disappeared below deck. Zina kept the Perth faced directly at the two pursuit craft. Sooner or later they would have to face a firefight, despite what Clark hoped.

Clark and Lois completed adjusting the cannons to aim high at the assault vessels. Before they could set them, three booms were heard as the pursuit craft returned fire at the Dark Angel. All shots missed the small speedy schooner, which was nearly out of range.

Two more volleys hit the Perth directly, smashing through the starboard side, across the keel, and shattered timbers until they finally blew out the port side. The shots were high above the water line, but one or two good waves, and the Perth would begin to take on water.

The Perth had been partially loaded with barrels of gunpowder, wine, and other provisions. By sheer luck, the shots had missed everything of importance. "This powder is damp." Lois said, rubbing it between her thin fingers. It left a slightly filmy residue. "It may cause a misfire."

Clark nodded, turning his back purposely on Lois to hide her view. He tried to dry the powder with his heat vision, which was tricky. It would be difficult to do without igniting it. If it blew, Lois could be injured, or his secret could be revealed to her.

Diana continued to sulk, surprised that Clark had rejected her advances. Gabrielle tried to comfort her. "Diana, you're a leader of the Amazon nation. Clark may not be part of your destiny." Diana glanced tearfully, first at the Dark Angel's departure, and then at Gabrielle. "I know. My mother has reminded me of my duties and responsibilities frequently. It makes it no easier to understand."  
"We used to have a saying in ancient Greece. If the fates allow…" Gabrielle added. "If the fates do still exist, they may be steering you and Clark in opposite directions." Diana sniffled, and nodded her head. "Thank you, Gabrielle."

This would make a great scroll, the ancient bard thought as two more cannonballs rocketed overhead, startling her. "Zina! They've adjusted the targets! We're going to get hit!" As the words left Gabrielle's mouth, two cannonballs were fired from the Perth. The shots took out two mainsail masts on the closest ship. "Nice shooting, Clark!" Zina praised loudly.

Zatanna wasn't convinced. "Zina! Those previous shots came from behind us!" She exclaimed. Sure enough, the French Army had lined up along the beach with two to four cannons at the ready. "We're trapped!" Gabrielle shrieked.

Quickly thereafter, the Perth fired three more successive shots, knocking out two masts on the second ship, and one ripped right through the center of a mainsail. The Dark Angel watched from a distance as her profile began to fade into the horizon.

The young Amazon warriors chanted and stomped their feet as they watched the largest mast on the pursuit schooner fall to the deck, scattering the crew. Everyone joined in the victory celebration except Hypolita and D'Jenna. The damaged ships weren't going anywhere soon, but the Perth was still well within cannon fire range. It was just a matter of time.

"I will avenge you my daughter." Hypolita vowed quietly as D'Jenna wiped a tear from her eye.

Back on the Perth, a keg of wine toppled over, and a chunk of the barrel shattered, spraying bright red wine all over the filthy, greasy, cargo hold. "It's a shame to waste some fresh wine." Lois joked, quickly grabbing a nearby soup ladle and letting the wine spill into it.

"Lois! This isn't a vacation cruise!" Clark chastised. "We're in the middle of a battle here!" Lois sipped a good portion of it, wrinkling her nose. "Wow! That's really fermented!" She grabbed a piece of the strange reddish fruit that Diana brought out, and squeezed it into the wine like a lemon.

Clark rolled his eyes as she finished the ladle, adding another. "That's better! Sweetens it up a bit!" She helped Clark prepare another volley of cannon fire, aiming the cannons at the pursuit craft. The schooners slowed their pace to a crawl. They fired in tandem, each hitting a schooner's mast.

Lois glanced over Clark's shoulder, following the waves of the churning sea. The small viewport beside the cannon muzzle forced them closer together. The attack craft continued to flounder, still within cannon fire range. Lois licked her lips from the pungent sweet taste of the wine and fruit.

Clark had to admit that being this close to Lois still made him nervous. She suddenly kissed him on the neck, startling him. "What was that for?" He complained. "That's a goodbye kiss in case we end up at the bottom of the sea. Besides, its my fantasy, my rules!" She quipped playfully.

"Lois, we are not going to die." Clark reassured her. "There's just a complicated way to get out of this mess." Lois listened intently as another round of whistling cannonballs were fired from the attack frigates. "Incoming!" She yelled, clinging tightly to Clark, and turning away from the ordinance.

Sure enough, one cannonball found its mark, skewering the planks between the Perth's aft cannons. This time the ball hit a keg of gunpowder. Lois closed her eyes. "That's it then!" She cried. As she screamed, Clark zipped past her with his lightning speed, and physically tossed the exploding keg through the port wall. Wood splinters, water, and supplies scattered in every direction.

The explosion had left a gaping six-foot hole in the side of the ship. Clark brushed some of the powder, and muck off of him, and sped back beside Lois. She carefully opened one eye. "We're not dead?" She asked. "Apparently not." Clark gibed.

"That was too close!" Lois said as she gazed at the open sea through the burned out hole. "Uh oh!" She added as Clark nodded. "Yeah. Uh oh!" Zatanna and Diana rushed down the damaged stairs into the cargo bay. "By the Gods!" Diana exclaimed.

Zatanna examined the breach. "We can't survive another hit like that." She hurriedly thumbed through the spell book. "Here it is!" The young sorceress concentrated hard on the ship. She placed the book under one arm, extending both hands toward the hull rupture.

"Reducto repairem!" She uttered the magical command. Immediately, the wooden planks began to creak and squeal as they stretched out across the gap. Rusty nails popped, and soon the planks had covered most of the hole. You could still see daylight between them.

"That will hold for a bit." Zatanna hoped aloud. "Magical repairs are spotty at best. Clark, we need to get out of here before the Perth takes another hit." Diana's eyes went wide as she examined Zatanna's repair job. "I have never seen magic used like this before."

"Everyone get topside." Clark directed. "I'm not leaving you." Lois pleaded. "Lois, just go. I'll let the crew out and we'll take to the rowboats. They can have the Perth if they really want it." Diana and Zatanna exchanged glances. "What's stopping anyone from firing on us?" Lois asked.

"Nothing." Clark answered dejectedly. "Great!" Lois grumbled, as she reluctantly followed the other girls upstairs. Lois glanced back over her shoulder at him. "I love…" Her statement was interrupted by another volley of cannonballs. The attack craft were relentless.

"Sons of Bacchae!" Zina yelled angrily as she piloted the sluggish Perth out of the way, barely avoiding the ordinance. As it was, one cannonball sliced through a smaller mast. It collapsed with a sickening crack, missing Diana and Lois by mere feet.

Clark unlocked the lower deck cells, freeing the original crew of the Perth. They waved their arms, cursing vehemently, and reluctantly followed each other up the stairs, chained to one another. He led them topside. More of the crew cussed, realizing the dangerous situation they were in.

A few ogled Diana in her scant Amazon outfit, still others watched curiously as Zina steered the Perth against the curling waves, presenting a smaller target to the assault frigates. "Here's the deal…" Clark began as the crew silenced. "You can have your ship back, but we're leaving."

A sharp-eyed crewmember spotted the Dark Angel speeding away from the fray. "Here's your white flag of truce." Gabrielle handed the captain the huge surrender signal. "Maybe they won't kill you." Lois snickered. "I wouldn't rule out a mutiny though, after all you were bested by a bunch of girls."

"Lois!" Clark snapped as Diana and Zina laughed. The remaining crewmen of the Dark Angel had rowed steadily towards the Perth and were now on board. Now the odds were in their favor. Only the five girls and Clark stood against them. "What if we refuse?" The captain snarled.

"I wouldn't if I were you." Zina menaced. "Your ship will need massive repairs." Clark took a moment to raise the rowboat to deck level, inspecting it for damage. Lois sprinted downstairs, back to the wine, and after collecting several ale mugs from the captain's quarters, fixed up a number of cocktails including the strange Amazonian fruit as garnish. She put them in a large carry bag, securing their covers.

"I'm not leaving without my booty." Lois chuckled, returning to the top deck with her souvenirs. "Ready?" Clark asked the girls. "What's the plan, again?" Gabrielle queried. "We'll take the rowboat and catch the Dark Angel. The crewmen will have to argue among themselves who does what." Clark replied.

"I know you're strong, Clark, but the Dark Angel is a few kilometers away by now." Lois pointed out. "I believe that I can handle that." Diana boasted, smiling brightly. "It's settled then. We abandon ship!" Zatanna said with relief. "Lois? What's all that?" Clark asked. "Supplies." Lois smirked, repositioning the bag of ale mugs on her shoulder.

After the girls were loaded into the rowboat, Zina and Clark went around freeing the crew. A couple of them feigned a move at Zina. "I wouldn't!" She sneered, and deftly leapt over their heads and onto the secondary deck. Clark still had to shove down one unruly crewman, silencing the others.

The Perth's captain stood at the highest point of the deck and waved the white flag of surrender. This, however, did nothing to dissuade the French Army, posted along the beach, from firing. Clearly, the captain of the Perth was in no mood to be toyed with. He gave the order to fire starboard cannons at Napoleon's soldiers, scattering them away from the forward guns.

Clark and Zina joined the others, as Diana made sure that the rowboat was lowered properly. After which, she executed a perfect dive into the sea, surfacing behind the rowboat. Clark had already begun to row, when Diana gave them a major push towards the Dark Angel.

The Amazon princess flew high into the air, startling everyone, as she circled back down like a bird of prey. "Wow! That's impressive!" Gabrielle admired the young superhero. "Watch this!" Diana laughed as she picked up the rowboat, occupants and all, and carried them away.

Lois gawked. "Man! I wish I could fly! Don't you, Clark?" He nodded, and teased her: "I could always throw you overboard from here." Diana soared roughly twenty feet above the water level. "Not if you value your life you won't!" She returned his gibe.

They reached the Dark Angel swiftly, amid cheers, hoots, and gasps by the Amazons on the overcrowded ship. Diana dropped the rowboat carefully onto the deck, as Zina and Gabrielle stepped out. Clark helped Lois and Zatanna exit next. Diana flew in a cocky, celebratory loop, landing beside her mother. "Thank Hera! You are alright!" Hypolita hugged Diana.

"You have donned the sacred armor of the ages!" Hypolita exclaimed. "Sorry mother, but I saw no other alternative." Diana defended. "It suits you well my sun, moon, and stars!" Hypolita stayed any anger towards her daughter. "Clark Kent, you have proven yourself a worthy ally of the Amazon Empire." The queen continued. "I do not approve of your methods, but the result is sound."

"Thanks." Clark reddened, suddenly feeling a thousand Amazons eyes upon him. Lois walked behind him with her bag of ale mugs. "I come bearing gifts." She joshed, removing a mug of wine and handing it to Queen Hypolita, who took a ceremonious first drink, and the others followed.

Clark rolled his eyes again. "Sorry I don't have enough for everyone." Lois apologized to the rowdy crowd. "It is good." Hypolita critiqued. "I recognize the wine grapes, but I can't quite place the other berry taste." Zina, Gabrielle, Zatanna, Diana, and Clark also took ceremonious sips.

Zina immediately chugged down the ale. She felt a familiar adrenaline surge. "What?" She exclaimed as Gabrielle took a healthy swig. "You don't suppose…" Zina cut her friend off. "Lois, where did you get this wine?" Lois shrugged. "On board the Perth, where else?" She was puzzled.

"Are you sure that it's only wine?" Gabrielle questioned. "Yeah." Lois answered. "I also garnished it with the sweet red fruit that Diana found." Clark was at a loss to explain why everyone was so obsessed with the overly sweet wine. "Lois, you mixed the wine with Ambrosia!" Zina accused.

"Is that what it's called?" Lois was puzzled. "Never heard of it." Zina groaned. "Do you realize what you've done?" Lois shrugged. "What? You don't like it?" Zina faced Hypolita. "Ambrosia is the Food of the Gods!" Lois frowned. "Well, it was good, but I wouldn't say…"

Diana cut her off. "Lois, Ambrosia is a magical fruit that gives mortals the power of a God." Zatanna finished her ale. "Whatever! I thought beans were magical fruits." She commented. "No, that's musical fruit." Lois corrected. "Anyway, what's the big deal?"

"Mother, isn't the Ambrosia just a legend?" Diana inquired. "No." Zina answered for her. "We personally have experienced its effect." Gabrielle nodded her agreement. "I don't see any gods around here." Lois defended. "I mean sometimes Clark thinks he is…"

Clark scowled at Lois's ribbing. "Maybe it doesn't work, or its freshness has expired." Zatanna pointed out, though she began to feel a bit woozy. Zina was worried. "I can vouch for its effects." She explained. "That's how Gabrielle and I came to be here."

Diana had her suspicions, but she'd decided to hold their words in confidence. Hypolita narrowed her eyes. "Can you explain that, Zina?"

"Yes. Zina and I were born…in roughly twenty five B.C. give or take a century." Gabrielle's admission had shocked everyone into silence, including Clark, who openly gaped. "That's right. Gabrielle and I walked the Earth over eighteen centuries ago." Zina confessed.

"By the Gods!" Hypolita gasped. "No, actually it was because of the Gods." Gabrielle elaborated. "The Pantheon of Gods cursed us to walk the Earth for all eternity. Actually, I think that they unwittingly did us a favor. We're here now, ready to help in any way we can."

"You're immortal? Both of you?" Zatanna scoffed. "As far as we know." Zina admitted. Lois reddened. "Well, you look good for your age." She flashed them a thin embarrassed smile.

If we don't get a move on, your immortality will be put to the test." D'Jenna pointed out from the steering deck of the Dark Angel. "The French Army has decided to fire on us again." Two cannonballs splashed into the aquamarine Mediterranean just behind the speeding schooner.  
"Do you want me to discourage them, mother?" Diana asked. "No, my daughter. We must push ever forward. This is man's war, not ours. Sorceress, do you have Themyscira in your second sight?" Zatanna gulped. "Yes. According to my scrying glass we are heading straight for it. There's no way to know how far, or how long we'll have to travel."

"I can help with that." Diana said as she stretched leisurely. Clark was concerned that the sudden burst of power would be too much for the young princess to handle. She'd already gone from a timid, well-grounded young woman, into a confident, cocky, superhero with extraordinary abilities, in the short time that she'd known them.

In Clark's experience, this type of transition was never smooth, and often bad, with overreaching consequences. He silently wondered if the Ambrosia, and if the Amazonian Armor had been planted by ancient Kryptonians. He eventually dismissed that idea as rampant paranoia.

Per Queen Hypolita's instructions, the Amazons busied themselves running the Dark Angel, and she even insisted that the youngest Amazons clean the sleek schooner from bow to stern. It was mostly to keep them occupied and out of everyone else's way. This was a mark of a true, experienced leader.

Lois sighed and relaxed for the first time on this fantasy turned nightmare gone awry. Stripping off her soiled blouse and revealing her black sports bra, she caught some rays under the late afternoon sun. Clark began a discussion with Diana, Zina, and Gabrielle.

The devout historian grilled them about the past, especially referring to ancient Greece. Zina and Gabrielle had many stories to tell. Lois quickly grew bored and strolled over beside Clark, leaning heavily into his arms. Clark, in turn, gave her a good once over.

Lois's hair had lightened considerably in the baking Mediterranean sun, nearly going dark blonde in the process. Her skin reddened quickly as some initial sunburn began to set in. "I take it no one has invented suntan lotion yet." She commented, as Diana stared at her blankly. "I thought not."

Lois listened to one of Gabrielle's stories called 'The Downfall of the Gods' with fascination. "That was a great retelling, Gabrielle, you should put that on the Internet." She remarked, before thoroughly thinking it out. "The what?" Gabrielle's big blue eyes widened. "Internet. Think of it as a big storybook with moving pictures." Lois dug herself in deeper.

Zina, ever vigilant, picked up on Lois's loose lips. "You, Zatanna, and Clark Kent, aren't from our time, are you?" She asked Lois directly, though Clark answered for her. "No. We're from the future. Now keep in mind that the less you know about the future, the better off you are. Every day that we're here, we risk changing or destroying our own future."

Zina and Gabrielle agreed with that assessment. "At least we know that mankind makes it into the future from here, though sometimes I wonder, what with all of the wars we've faced." Gabrielle was feeling philosophical. "Are the gods in control in the future?" Zina couldn't resist pressing Clark.

"Actually, everyone has religious freedom to some degree." Lois informed them. "No one religion has control over the others. It varies from country to country of course." Gabrielle smiled. "It sounds wonderful." She added wistfully. Clark sighed. "The world is far from perfect, but its better than things here are now. For one thing, many diseases have been eliminated."

"How far into the future are you from?" Diana questioned, overhearing their budding philosophical discussion. "Two hundred years or so." Zatanna answered. "So we're all dead, I take it?" Gabrielle said depressingly. "I wouldn't be too sure." Zatanna responded. "By our actions now, we are most likely guaranteeing the survival of the Amazon nation. Add to that the Ambrosia…"

Clark considered that. Was this what he and Lois were supposed to do before they left this time period? Zatanna seemed to think that this fantasy had a purpose. "Onto the future, then!" Diana smiled brightly. She flew back behind the Dark Angel, and in moments, had shoved the ship forward a good distance.

"A few more jolts like that, and we'll run smack into this mysterious island." Lois complained. Prophetically, within the hour the Dark Angel suddenly sailed into shallower water. "Sorceress! How close are we to Themyscira?" D'Jenna barked from atop the captain's deck.

The ship scraped its bottom on the sand bar, and skidded to a halt. The sails drooped and dropped, as the wind grew silent. Stagnant humid air began to rise up from the Dark Angel's bow. The schooner, for all practical purposes, was dead in the water. "Very close!" Zatanna answered vaguely.

At the moment, they were near the center of the great Mediterranean Sea. No land was yet visible, save for a few dots on the starboard horizon.


	11. Chapter 11: Amazon Island

**Amazon Island**

Zatanna stood near the highest point of the Dark Angel's bow and opened her spell book. She began a series of incantations, first forward in Latin, then backwards. She ended with an authoritative: "Reveal A Mae!" Shouting into the relative silence of the aquamarine sea.

Zatanna's spell book glowed brightly, and a thin fog began to encircle the ship, seemingly from out of nowhere. The fog thickened, and a slight wind began to come up. The clouds moved slowly around them and above the Dark Angel. The sky darkened, and the wind became a maelstrom.

The schooner lurched forward, sending a number of Amazons to the floor of the deck. Fortunately, no one was tossed overboard. "D'Jenna! Take it easy on the ship! We may yet need it!" Hypolita rebuked the young Amazon. "I touched nothing, my queen!" D'Jenna defended.

Sure enough, the steering wheel spun uncontrollably, yet the Dark Angel didn't move, and the sails weren't unfurled. Before them, sand suddenly appeared, and the ship was thrust upward a good ten to fifteen feet. A land mass surfaced below them. The immediate fog parted, but behind them, the maelstrom still spun. In moments, the ship resettled on what appeared to be a beachhead.

As more of the fog cleared, tall palm trees, common Cypress trees, and tropical cactus like plants barred their way at what could be considered the rear of the beach. The dense foliage revealed nothing else, but a clear coastal outline appeared. Behind the Dark Angel was a thick dense fog, though the winds had calmed.

"Behold Themyscira!" Hypolita announced loudly, as she faced her Amazon sisters. "Nice work, Zatanna." Lois said with sarcastic approval. Clark shook his head. So, myth becomes reality, he mused. He appreciated the power of magic, but still swore that he could do without it.

Some light filtered down from above, further illuminating the tropical style island. Water droplets fell from the trees and plants, confirming that Themyscira had actually been underwater. This raised all kinds of questions like 'would the Amazon's island now appear on a map? Would it be visible to passing seamen, including the French Army or any pirates that may be in the area?'

In their future, Clark had been to Themyscira once or twice, but still wasn't sure how he'd gotten there. Diana had always guided the Justice League to it when necessary. Hypolita was just as obstinate about Amazon tradition in the future, as she was now. Had they learned nothing in two hundred years? He wondered silently.

The Dark Angel sat motionless in the calm, tropical water. The maelstrom had simply become a scattering fog, with variable sea winds. Hypolita stood atop the captain's deck and faced her people. "My sisters! Let's investigate our new home!" Her arms rose in a ceremonious gesture. The Amazons, great and small, cheered and stomped their feet, singing a victory song.

"You're sure this is Themyscira?" Diana checked Zatanna's story out. "Yes, princess. According to my scrying bowl, this is the exact location we were drawn to. " Zatanna confirmed. D'Jenna eyed the stern suspiciously, but saw no reason to detain anyone. "Drop Anchor!" She ordered some of the nearest Amazons. The muscular young women lowered the heavy iron anchor into the sea.

The anchor didn't have far to fall, as evidenced by the slack in the long iron chain. Technically, the Dark Angel had run aground, whether the mysterious isle was conjured or not. Lois wiped her sweaty hands on her shorts and said: "I guess our work here is done!"

Clark agreed, yet glanced at Zatanna worriedly. "Shouldn't we be on our way home now?" He pressed her. Zatanna handed the spell book to Lois. She opened it up, and instantly the ancient writings sparkled to life within the pages. "I wish I were in Kansas!" Lois joshed, clicking her gym shoes together.

Still nothing.

"Maybe the book's not ready yet?" Zatanna offered as Lois groaned. She slammed the book shut angrily. "Fine! We might just as well have a look around, to see if the island is safe for the girls." She suggested, following the youngest Amazon girls into a rowboat.

It was a short trip to the actual island's beach from the now silent Dark Angel. Lois absently flipped through the spell book, vainly attempting to find a spell that would send them back to their own time. The magic reference book was written mostly in Latin, and Lois was amazed that somehow she was able to understand the ancient texts.

She never recalled studying any language other than French, in the myriad of schools that she attended growing up at her father's side as an Army brat. The youngest Amazons beached the boat, and followed Lois out onto the sandy ridge, tying it neatly to a coconut tree.

"Are you a goddess?" A young Amazon of no more than thirteen years old asked Lois. Based on her facial features, and bronze skin tone, she appeared to be of Pacific Islander descent. She announced that her name was Jasmine.

"No Jasmine, but I have been accused of being overly self confident and headstrong." Lois replied as the girl stared at her blankly. Lois realized that Jasmine hadn't understood her comments, and it occurred to her that what the youngest Amazons needed most was education.

Sure they'd be taught how to survive, feed and clothe themselves, fight off attackers, and to become schooled in whatever information Hypolita wanted to teach them, but it wasn't a true education. Lois flipped through some more pages of the spell book. "Ah! Here we go!"

She voiced an incantation in an approximation of Latin. 'Liberty of thought will lead us to freedom from tyranny, and release us from bondage' "That's pretty profound." She commented. Instantly, three stacks of books appeared on the beach before them. The young girls gasped.

"You're a sorceress!" Jasmine said excitedly. "Not really." Lois downplayed the incident. "It's the book that's doing this!" She said as she examined the magical library. There were books on the history of magic, simple charms and chants, how to create potions from herbs, flowers, and spices, some unusual poetry, and even a book on the history of warfare.

"Okay girls, dig in!" Lois instructed. "Everyone take a book or two with them." The young Amazons were timid, but Jasmine spurred them on by grabbing three or four books and lining up behbehind Lois. I hope they know how to read, she suddenly thought. It was up to Hypolita and Diana, of course, as to how much the kids should know, she mused.

Clark, Diana, Zatanna, Tara, and Amarice were in the last rowboat to come ashore. Zatanna cocked her head as she spied Lois and the children moving towards them. The youngest girls trailed Lois in a single file, looking like a bunch of grimy, scantily clad, multicolored ducklings following a mother duck. Zatanna also noted that the kids were carrying books.  
"Lois? What did you do?" Clark nearly shouted. She flashed him her most innocent look. "What?

"I was just reading the spell book…" Lois defended. "Well, please don't!" Clark pleaded. "That's how you got us here in the first place." Lois's eyes flashed a bright yellow, shocking everyone. "Hey, Smallville! I didn't ask you to join in my fantasy, did I?"

A stiff wind suddenly came up, scattering the sand, pebbles, and twigs along the beach, and eventually turning them into a whirlwind of debris. The young Amazons ducked, and covered their heads to keep from being hit in the face.

"She's possessed!" Zatanna snapped. "Tell me about it!" Clark agreed angrily. "No, I meant she could literally be possessed!" The young sorceress added. "Remember the Ambrosia and wine drinks?" She reminded him. Clark hadn't considered that aspect of it.

"She's right." Zina agreed. "We've seen it before." Clark scowled. "But we all drank some of that Ambrosia concoction." Diana flew alongside them, distracting Gabrielle. "It affects each person differently." Zina explained. "We need to keep Lois calm."

Clark sighed as the nightmare continued. "Lois! Relax! You're going to hurt someone." He urged. Lois forced herself to take deep breaths until her eyes returned to their normal blue gray. "Wow! It's like being amped up on steroids!" Lois grumbled. "That or PMS!" Zatanna taunted.

"How do we get her off of it?" Clark pressed. Zina's disappointed look told him all he needed to know. "You can't get off of it." She explained. "Lois is now an immortal." Zatanna and Clark gasped collectively. "We all drank it, so now none of us could die?" Diana was skeptical.

"I'm sure we'll find a solution when we get back…home." Clark said hopefully. "Until then, we have to keep her and ourselves from getting upset." Easier said than done, Zatanna thought. Lois's tirade had subsided, and along with it the temper driven dust storm.

Meanwhile, Hypolita was busily organizing the Amazons into purposeful groups. The women were divided into patrols, with four warriors per squad. The older, taller, more muscular, and experienced Amazons were given the duty of scouting the island, or recon, as Lois had indicated.

The medium sized women were responsible for hunting for and gathering the food, water, and medicinal herbs for the injured. The youngest girls were charged with backpacking the acquired supplies needed for their future huts and villages. Their backpacks were made from animal skins, and were adjusted per girl, based on her load bearing capacity.

Overall, the Amazons functioned like a well-organized army, Clark observed. Zina and Gabrielle struck out on their own, heading straight for the center of the mysterious isle. Zatanna, Lois, and Diana remained behind to protect Hypolita from any foreseeable dangers.

Clark was left to wonder why they hadn't been sent back to their own time as of yet. It appeared to him that there was nothing more to be gained by staying. The Amazons were reasonably safe from assailants, after landing upon the magical island. All that was left was the exploration.  
The isle shook violently, startling everyone. Lois groaned after the tremor had subsided. "Please tell me that we didn't just guide the Amazons to a volcanic island!" She growled, facing Zatanna as she spoke. "I don't know anything beyond what the scrying glass showed me." The young sorceress defended. "It's not as if the thing came with instructions."

Just then, a secondary tremor occurred, and the youngest girls began to panic, nearly dropping their loads. "That didn't feel like a quake." Clark's supersensitive hearing picked up a distant buzzing. The familiar sound became much more pronounced. "It can't be!" He muttered. "What?" Lois probed.

"That sounds like a squadron of airplanes." Clark replied as Zatanna concurred. "In 1812? Or whatever year this is supposed to be?" Lois questioned. Sure enough, five P-51 Mustangs roared above Themyscira, their engines droning on as they passed. They could see the planes painted against the backdrop of the bluish gray sky. But it was like looking through a prism.

The images existed, yet they were distorted. "What the hell happened?" Lois shouted, growing more upset by the minute. "Lois! Calm yourself!" Clark directed, fearing another uprising from his best friend's brush with godhood. "There ought to be a logical explanation." Zatanna said optimistically.

"Zatanna, we are trapped in a magical fantasy allegedly created by Lois, tell me where this is logical?" Clark pointed towards the receding squadron. "The earthquakes were really what, bombs being dropped?" Zatanna queried. "Maybe, but I'd bet on depth charges instead. It was one way of locating submarines." Clark guessed. "Submarines?" Lois echoed. "Yes, in 1945." Clark added.

1945?" Zatanna shook her head. "Unless you have a better explanation?" Clark challenged. "Not really." Zatanna admitted. Lois was breathing heavily again, trying to control the swirling emotions of godhood within her mind. "We have to get you out of here before you go off!" Clark said as he grabbed Lois by the elbow.

"Where are we supposed to go, Clark?" Lois snarled as her eyes flared yellow again. "Zatanna, we have to try the book one more time." He directed, stepping in behind Lois, and holding her by the waist. "Why are you getting so grabby, Smallville?" Lois grinned lustily, as her emotions roiled.

"If this works, I don't want to lose you as we get zapped into that magical time warp of yours." He explained. "What am I chopped liver?" Zatanna snapped, clearly beginning to stress out. Could the Ambrosia be affecting her as well? Clark wondered.

No one wanted to hang around and find out. "Fine! Let's join hands." Lois suggested, forcing a calm edge to her voice. With one hand she opened the spell book and steadied it, as she held Zatanna's hand with the other. "Now do your backwards spell thing."

Diana spotted what the three strangers were doing, and flew directly into the center of their magical triangle. "Diana! What…?" Clark never finished his sentence. Zatanna muttered the 'return us to our home' spell backwards. Immediately, a shimmering gold aura enveloped them all.

Hypolita, D'Jenna, Tara, and Amarice watched in horror as the three friends and Diana disappeared before their eyes. The young Amazon children cried, and shouted in confusion, just as a bluish gray P-51 Mustang World War II fighter rocketed into the forest behind them, crashing in a ball of flames.

Amazingly, by sheer luck, none of the Amazons were killed or injured. A solitary Air Force pilot floated downward from the bluish brown sky, his green and white parachute trailed behind him. The soldier crashed into a treetop, yet escaped with only minor cuts and bruises.

He unclasped the tangled chute before the netting could strangle him, and fell slowly through the smaller tree branches towards the ground. With catlike reactions, Amarice caught him at the last moment, swinging through the trees from a vine like a monkey.

She toted him safely to the ground. The soldier smiled as the Amazons surrounded him. "Hey! Am I dead? Is this heaven?" He quipped as Hypolita stood nearby scowling. "Speak English?" He began. "Steve Trevor, United States Air Force…and you are?" Amarice smiled brightly.

Tara decked him from behind, smacking him across the back of the head with a tree branch. Trevor fell to the ground as all went black. "I choose this one as my mate!" Amarice announced proudly. "Do any of my sisters wish to challenge?" Silence. The Amazons scurried to put out the fire caused by Trevor's plane, as Amarice picked him up, and tossed him over her shoulder.

Diana, Lois, Zatanna, and Clark spun through time as the multicolored visions encircled them, swirling away quickly like wisps of thick smoke. Clark tried to follow the scattered imagery with limited success.

Back on Amazon Island, Zina and Gabrielle happened upon a large pool of clear, crisp water, near the center of the isle. They'd felt the tremors, and heard the airplanes, unable to comprehend the strange sounds. Zina heard Trevor's plane crash near the beach, and watched a plume of smoke snake its way into the multicolored sky.

"Now what?" she growled as Gabrielle reached her side. The smaller in stature Amazon queen glanced into the clear water, and then traced the source of the pool to a hot spring nearby that pumped the steamy water up through a ravine.

Gabrielle wound her way along the rocky embankment, and bent over to smell the water for freshness. She cupped her haggard hands, filling them with the water, and proceeded to wash her grimy face, and promptly fell in! "Whoa! Zina!" She yelled at her friend, and soul mate.

Zina rushed over and tried to grab Gabrielle's flailing arms. She succeeded in clasping onto her wrists, but it was too late. The water suddenly funneled into a whirlpool, and both girls were dragged down below the surface, and sucked through the hot springs bed into oblivion.  
All was silent, save for the frantic yells of the Amazons in the distance, putting out the fire.

end chapter


	12. Chapter 12: Homeward Bound

Chapter 12: Homeward Bound

Zatanna and Lois screamed as the bizarre images sped past them. Clark had been through this time vortex several times before since beginning his quest with the Eye of Rao. Every trip through the time dimension portal was unique. His alien brain accepted the unsettling sequence of events easily.

The humans, on the other hand, were completely freaked out by it. The images faded quickly, and Clark's barn loft hideaway soon came into focus. Zatanna and Lois slammed into the nearby hay bales, as the portal spit them out. Diana was nowhere to be seen. Had she even made it?

Clark was prepared of course, and rolled on his shoulder, after the vortex spewed him onto the creaky wooden floor of the barn. He somersaulted to a stop. Zatanna awakened first, grasping the spell book tightly, as she sat up. "That was a trip." She underplayed her comment as Clark knelt beside her.

"Are you okay?" He fawned over the young sorceress. "I guess." She answered vaguely. Lois was still out cold, having hit her head on the baling wire roll as she tumbled in. "Do you remember all of that?" Clark pressed her immediately. "Its pretty fuzzy, but yeah." Zatanna muttered. "We saved a bunch of Amazons from being attacked, relocating them on an island, right?"

"That's the short of it, yes." Clark replied. "I don't know where Diana is. I didn't see her in the vortex." Zatanna carefully climbed to one knee, as the sickening feeling in her stomach subsided. "Maybe she didn't get pulled in, we all had joined hands."

"Is there some way that we can eliminate or limit Lois's recollection of the events?" Clark asked hopefully. Zatanna shrugged. "There's at least one. Are you sure that's what you want?" She quizzed him. "Don't you think that Lois is ready to accept your alien heritage?"

Leave it to Zatanna to ask the hard questions, Clark observed. He wasn't confident in anything right now. "I guess it would depend on how much she recalled." He dodged. "It's your choice, Clark." Zatanna pointed out. "You'd better decide quickly before she awakens."

"I can cast a hazing spell on her recent thought process." She offered. "It would appear to Lois as if she'd dreamed the whole thing." Clark considered that carefully. "Would it inhibit Lois from doing her job and anything else?" Zatanna shook her head. "No, it would just be short term memory loss."

"That would be best." Clark decided. "Lois has enough to worry about without me telling her that her best friend is a space alien, and that magic truly exists." Zatanna was still hesitant. "You know Clark, you can do worse than Lois." He nodded. "True, but I'm just not ready yet."

Zatanna flipped open the spell book. "So be it." She cast the spell by saying 'Hecuba, Mistress of the Dark, I beseech you, let reality become dream, and the dream be commended to the nether world."

Zatanna said it again backwards. "We'll see if that works." She confided. "The uncontrolled variable is the Ambrosia. If the Amazon's legend is truth, the spell might not affect Lois, and then you've got real problems!" Clark nodded his understanding.

"What about you?" Clark asked warily. "Do you feel any different with the Ambrosia in your system?" Zatanna shook her head. "No. Not really. It could be that current magical affinity trumps ancient plant sorcery." Clark helped Zatanna to her feet.  
"We'll talk." The young sorceress said. "I guess that you'd better…" Clark stopped mid sentence. "Go." He concluded as Zatanna disappeared before his eyes. He wondered if she was okay. As a sign, the friendly magic user left her calling card. A colorful business card with her phone number on it, fluttered to the ground where Clark picked it up.

Lois began to stir, and Clark zipped up to the top of his loft staircase. Her eyes flickered open, as she rubbed the back of her head. "Ow!" Clark flashed her an innocent smile. "Lois? There you are! I thought that I heard someone down there. She groggily glanced up at him. "Smallville?"

He gingerly bounded down the stairs to her side. "What, you couldn't go into the house to take a nap? You haven't been, you know…" Clark gestured as if he were drinking something. "No! I haven't touched any brew since our last late night at the Planet." Lois responded.

"It was all a dream!" Lois mumbled. "Huh? What was?" Clark played it off. He felt bad about lying to her yet again. His stomach seemed to squirm more and more every time he'd faced her with a lie. The lies, omissions, and half-truths would have to stop one day, he mused.

"I just had the wackiest dream." Lois said as she sat up and Clark reached down to help her stand. "Oh yeah? About what?" Clark gulped as the lies burned into his heart again. "It was bizarre, must have been something I ate." She wobbly stood beside him, and rubbed her head. "I must've taken a fall. Maybe eaten a bad fruit?"

"Let me see." Clark saw the slight bump where Lois's head hit the baling wire. "You'll live, but you'll need a pack of ice, and have quite a headache." He charmed her, despite feeling so poorly about the whole event. "Thank you Dr. Kent." Lois flirted.

Clark bit his lip at her comment. "If it was something I ate, then why am I hungry?" Lois took an uneven step forward. "C'mon inside, I'll order a pizza." Clark grabbed her elbow and helped Lois climb over a stray bundle of hay, presumably knocked down by their impromptu entrance.

He led her out into the farmyard, risking a glance at the nearby cattle happily grazing on some of the taller dry grasses. Everything seemed normal, he ventured nervously. He'd learned two things about their misfortunes: Magic always came with a price to pay, and time travel always had consequences.

Clark silently wondered what had changed this time. The fear of not knowing gripped him as he walked Lois over to the ranch house.

The legendary princess Diana spilled out onto the pavement in downtown Metropolis, barely avoiding two high speed vehicles that whizzed past her, horns blowing, and men cursing. She rolled over the curb and immediately struck an attack pose in the middle of the sidewalk. "By the Gods!" She exclaimed.

next up "Spun From Defiance"


	13. Chapter 13: Spun From Defiance

Time Shards 3

_Chapter 13: Spun From Defiance_

Everything seemed normal, Clark ventured nervously. He'd learned two things about their misfortunes: Magic always came with a price to pay, and time travel always had consequences. Clark silently wondered what had changed this time. The fear of not knowing gripped him as he walked Lois over to the ranch house.

Scene: _South Pacific Islands_

Commander Jenna Dathos walked confidently along the bridge of the USS Kansas City. The medium sized destroyer was assigned to escort two American cargo ships, The Areka Dee, and Northern Light through the Asian Pacific, to a common port of call near Bangkok.

The twenty one year old Jenna was a brilliant Naval Officer, who'd recently graduated from the prestigious West Point Military Academy. She'd come in third in her graduating class of over one thousand cadets. Today, she'd been promoted to First Officer.

Captain Fitzpatrick had taken ill while stationed on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Jenna would have to take command of the ship, which should've been a simple escort mission through friendly international waters. As predictable as waves on the ocean, nothing ever seemed to go as planned.

Jenna stood on the command deck, her hands crossed smartly behind her back, her raven black hair tied neatly in a barely regulation ponytail. My first command, she silently thanked the powers that be. Wait until I'm able to tell my Aunt Mariah back on the mainland.

Jenna wore the white formal command jacket, and a conservative navy blue skirt, with blue regulation stockings, and regulation black dress shoes, their painstaking glossy sheen reflecting the sunlight. She inhaled a deep breath of the warm, humid Pacific sea air and gave the order:

"Take us out, Commander Burke." Jenna found that the men would pay closer attention to her if she barked any commands loudly and clearly, the inflection seemed unusually important to them. Jenna had been born in Greece, but her family legally emigrated to the United States when she was a child.

Both of her parents were inexplicably killed in a suspicious car accident near Metropolis, Kansas, when she was barely ten years old. It was the Gods' own luck that she wasn't with them that horrendous day. Her Aunt Mariah Pocious had taken responsibility for her, and raised her from a child to a young woman.

Mariah was a Kansas State Senator, with eyes on the bigger picture, namely the American Presidency. Driven and charismatic, Mariah had risen through the ranks quickly, and had barely seen her thirty fifth birthday. She and Senator Martha Kent had come to know each other well, though the two had rarely seen eye to eye on any number of important political issues.

Today was Jenna's big day. She relished the awesome responsibility of running the huge Naval destroyer. With her in depth knowledge of the ship from bow to stern, Jenna felt as if this was her destiny, that it had always been her fate to command the high seas.

The three ships headed out, and the first couple of days were routine, bordering on boring. Jenna had walked the ship several times, meeting and greeting the crew members. Her command was as much political in the eyes of the Navy as it was standard procedure. The brass looked good by placing a young rising star officer like Jenna in charge. The public relations win was gigantic.

"Kansas' Proud Daughter Receives First Command." Was the headline on the morning's Daily Planet newspaper, within the local news section, and written by Lois Lane and Clark Kent. Perry White was happy with their choice to run it. It was a nice feel good piece that the readers would eat up.

About halfway to Bangkok, Commander Burke sounded general quarters, and waited for the crew to scurry to their assigned locations, and assume their duties. Jenna strolled quickly onto the bridge. "Status, Commander?" She inquired with authority. "Captain Dathos, we are being approached by three ships of unknown origin. They refuse to respond to our inquiries. I've notified the nearest Port Authority."

"Have you requested a response in every known language, Communications Officer?" Jenna whirled to face a young Asian man named Lt. Cho Seng. "Yes, Captain. They refuse to answer all hails." Jenna felt her ponytail hairs standing up on the back of her neck. "Sound Red Alert." She ordered.

The bridge officers complied. It was standard protocol to change the ship's status to red alert in these situations. It could simply be that the approaching ships' communications were down, but Jenna thought that unlikely, given that three ships, not just one, had refused to respond.

"Order the Areka Dee and Northern Light to fall back, and stay behind us." Jenna spewed a series of commands to her bridge crew. "It could be nothing, but given the state of the world, anything is possible." She confided in Burke. "Commander Seng, order the Blackhawks to battle ready." Jenna spun towards the CO. The two heavily armed American helicopters were ready to go in moments.

"Captain, radar contacts behind us as well. Two ships, barely within radar range. They're keeping their distance." Jenna acknowledged the radar exec.s comment. "I don't like this at all, Commander Burke. Arm torpedoes and three inch guns, we may have to send someone a message." Burke nodded. "Aye, Sir." Jenna had decided to let the crew address her as sir, it seemed less confusing.

"CO, send a message apprising our situation to the Asian Pacific High Command. Leave nothing out." Jenna directed. "Aye, sir." She eyed the radar screen in total. "This looks like a pincer move." Jenna remarked. "What fools would tangle with an American Naval Destroyer as large as the Kansas City?" Burke questioned, as his fingers flew across the Ops controls.

"That is a very good question, Commander." Jenna's eyebrows rose. "It could be someone trying to create an international incident. Lt. Paris, get me a full ship's manifest of the cargo being carried by the Areka Dee and Northern Light. I have a feeling that our friends out there are after something." Paris nodded as his fingers scurried across the computer keyboard.

"I've got it, sir." Paris announced after a few more agonizing seconds. "Mostly standard supplies...except for..." Paris turned to face Jenna. "Except for four point three million dollars in gold bars!" Jenna cursed aloud, startling the bridge crew. "A robbery? You can't be serious!" Burke was incredulous.

"That's our best guess, Commander." Jenna hissed. "I don't like this at all. This stinks like four day old carp! Helmsman, plot evasive course, let's pretend we don't want to play with them." She ordered. "Aye, Sir!" The young African American Naval Helmsman responded. The Kansas City steered away.

Predictably, the three pesky ships veered starboard to follow the destroyer's path. "It's a game they want, then." Jenna's big blue eyes narrowed. "CO, notify the Asian Pacific High Command that our friends are antagonizing us." The communications officer complied. "Ship wide! Battle stations!" Jenna barked into the ship's intercom. "If they won't relent, we'll give them a fireworks show!"

"Captain!" The radar administrator shouted excitedly. "The two ships behind us are closing on the Areka Dee and Northern Light!" Jenna seated herself in the command chair at the bridge's center. "It looks like it's going to be a long day! Weapons XO, prepare to fire small armaments over our stern at the assailants." The weapons officer readied his console, and plotted an electronic firing pattern.

"Captain! The APHC confirms the five ships are unknowns! They're not registered to be in this sector!" Jenna acknowledged him with a barely perceptible nod. "Captain! The two starboard ships are dropping mines!" Jenna swore impressively. "They're asking for it! Weapons XO! Fire at the mines only!" She directed as the XO followed his firing pattern, knocking out three of the four mines on the first volley.

They exploded near the two assault ships, causing them to scatter away from their current course. The three ships in front of the Kansas City began to encircle the destroyer and the two cargo ships. "They are attempting to block our path, Captain." The CO announced. Jenna fumed. How dare they? She silently grew aggressive and impatient. "We don't want them to try that." She snarled.

"Explain it to them!" Jenna sneered as she gave the order. "Weapons XO, fire two warning shots across the nearest ships' bows." He complied, firing two rounds of the three inch guns' ordinance high into the sky above them. The six shells landed harmlessly just beyond the interdicting ships.

The blocking ships seemed to be unimpressed, assuming that the Kansas City would simply wimp out, and slow or stop, and wait to be boarded. Jenna would have none of it. "CO, send top priority to the APHC, and our nearest American base: We are preparing to defend ourselves. Send return authorization or a squadron of F-18 jet fighters to discourage our assailants." Jenna ordered as the com console buzzed.

"There is some interference, Captain." The CO regrettably informed her. "Message has not been verified." Jenna sighed in frustration. The two aft side assault ships returned to their original course, closing in on the Areka Dee and Northern Light. "Weapons and Tactics, prepare to fire three inch guns, and two port side torpedoes. If they won't back off, they're going to Davy Jones Locker."

Jenna knew full well what she was about to do. There would be investigations, accusations, and any number of other awful implications, based on her next action. Was she being too aggressive? Was she being aggressive enough? Either way, it was unlikely that she would ever have her own command again.

Jenna waited to the last moment to make her decision. "CO, has there been any message verification from the APHC or Naval Command?" She asked hopefully. "No sir. All channels show interference." He replied solemnly. "Then we're on our own." Jenna rose from her seat, and glanced across the bridge.

"CO, send one last message to the hostile." Jenna directed. "Move out of our path, vacate the area, or we will fire on you. Captain, USS Kansas City." The communications officer completed the message. They waited a few moments, as all five ships began to converge on them. "Any response?" Jenna asked.

"Negative." The CO confirmed. "CO, have you documented all of my directives up to this point?" Jenna still followed some protocol. "Yes, sir. All orders have been documented." He nervously responded. "According to Naval Command protocol, I will now decide to fire on one ship. Weapons, submit firing solution." She ordered.

"Solution submitted." He affirmed. "XO confirms." First Officer Burke added. "Any change in the hostile's course?" Jenna inquired in a last ditch effort. "Negative, Captain." Weapons exec stated. "Very well then. Weapons master. Fire!" Jenna ordered as she took a deep breath. "Torpedoes away!"

The two torpedoes easily took out the lead ship. In a matter of seconds, the assault frigate was in flames, split in half, and in the process of sinking. The two nearest to it veered away from the spewing debris. The two ships behind them slowed to a crawl and eventually changed course, sailing away as fast as they could in another direction. The lead two ships left had dropped mines in the Kansas City's path.

The weapons XO easily took them out, and radar swept the area for any more. Finally, four American Navy F-18 fighters showed up, and buzzed the debris field. "Now you come!" Jenna grumbled as she watched the jets sear the air above them, whistling out into a circular pattern.

"Survivors?" Jenna questioned the search and rescue team leader. "None!" Was the tinny sounding reply that crackled over the com system. "We track two ships heading towards the North." One of the F-18 pilots broke in. "Should we investigate?" The young pilot named Hal Jordan replied.

"Affirmative." Jenna suggested. "Can you get me their license plate numbers?" She quipped. Hal laughed. "We'll try!" He and another pilot soared off to track the fleeing vessels.


	14. Chapter 14: Port of Achilles

**Chapter 14**: _Spun From Defiance _

Hal Jordan's investigation of the fleeing ships, turned up a disturbing trend. The assault vessels bore no markings, save for the traditional purple and red flag bearing the skull and crossed bones. These attacks were becoming commonplace on the high seas. Nearly every port of a newly developing country, had stories of secret, well organized, terrorist types who harassed and robbed wayfaring ships.

Scene: _The Greek Port of Achilles_.

Jenna Dathos was busted down to second officer, serving on small American Naval vessels along the coast of Greece. Their missions were primarily supply runs between the myriad of Mediterranean isles. Some thought it to be a cushy job, but Jenna wanted responsibility and adventure.

She was lucky that her powerful Aunt, Senator Mariah Pocious had kept her from being Court Marshaled or busted to Naval cook in the middle of nowhere. The brass had decided to return the command of the USS Kansas City to Captain Fitzpatrick. Their judgement was that Jenna was too young for such a powerful command. They felt that the Asian Pacific incident should've been handled better.

Jenna often said that anyone could armchair quarterback her decision making, but deep down she still had some doubts that perhaps she could've handled the situation better, maybe with more experience...her thoughts were interrupted by a call from her current Captain, Geno Starkos, stating that suspicious vessels had been seen nosing around the Greek port of Achilles.

"Morning Little Jenna," Starkos greeted his young charge. She'd come to view Starkos as a surrogate grandfather, given that he'd been sailing around Greece for forty years. Jenna still held her rank of Lt. Commander, but out here in the sticks, that rank didn't mean much.

She mostly filled out paperwork, and tracked supplies, fuel, and such by her government issue laptop. "Morning, Captain." She smiled pleasantly. The other men ogled young Jenna, who opted to wear a Naval Blue camouflage halter top, and Naval issue shorts. Her long tan legs glistened in the bright Mediterranean sun.

"Back to work, scoundrels!" Starkos barked at the gawking young men that served under his command. The other officers, sergeants, and privates all quickly resumed their daily duties without so much as a wolf whistle at Jenna. They were well trained, but for one reason or another ended up serving in the Greek Isle boonies. "They're good people, Jenna, a bit lazy and self serving though!" He critiqued loudly. Jenna snickered.

It had been over six weeks since the Asian Pacific incident and Jenna's subsequent reassignment. Captain Starkos instinctively knew that Jenna didn't belong with the rabble that served under him. She was tough, and driven, not easily satisfied with just doing her job. He guided her into his ship's conference room.

"Jenna, these incidents we've been talking about around the Port of Achilles are no coincidence." Starkos began without preamble. "The word in the shipping lanes is that we're being scoped out by pirates." He stopped to let that idea register with Jenna, who was busily tying her raven black hair in a ponytail.

"Are you serious, Captain?" Jenna halted her movement. "Deadly serious, my friend. Not your Hollywood aargh type of Pirates. These scum are high tech, ruthless, greedy, bloodthirsty thieves, who won't let anything stand in the way of their nefarious goals."

"Does the Port Authority know?" Jenna inquired logically. "Sure. But given the amount of international red tape all of these local bureaucrats wade through, most won't bother to do much about it." Starkos continued. "They only react, when the pirates do something bold, brazen, and obvious."

"Like attempt to hijack cargo ships...even when they're guarded by an American Naval destroyer." She remarked cynically. "Exactly!" Starkos grinned as his wrinkled, sunburnt skin, receded from his lips. "When you fired on one of their own, you became an instant target for vengeance."

Jenna was getting angry. "You think they followed me specifically to Greece?" She asked skeptically. "Followed you? No. I do think that they spread the word amongst their own that you arrived here, though." Starkos replied. "How would they even know...unless..." Jenna's dark thoughts took over.

"Unless they have some people on the inside." She finished her thought. "In the US Navy? Pirate accomplices?" Starkos nodded gravely. "Aye. Someone knows that you're here." Starkos added with certainty. "I'd better tell my Aunt Mariah. She has connections." Jenna decided.

"That's a good idea, my friend." Starkos agreed. "Still, she'll be dragged through the same red tape as all the rest." Jenna was getting fired up. She felt an unusually strong adrenaline surge coarse through her veins. "I'd better not ever see them, or so help me, there'll be hell to pay!" She snapped.

Starkos laughed. "I believe you would best them, little one! They've a right to fear you!" Jenna smirked as the Captain dismissed her and returned to the bridge. Later that night, when Jenna was off duty, she ventured into the seedier side of the Greek Port of Achilles.

She passed by the 'Admiral's Club', a strip bar where all the young Naval personnel hung out, and walked warily along the wharf, eyeing everyone suspiciously. Jenna carried a small sidearm for her protection, but hoped that she wouldn't have to use it.

As Jenna neared the last bar on the strip, called the Golden Ax, a few creepy characters took notice of the attractive young Naval officer. She was dressed in a common one piece bathing suit, its bottom covered by a sensible flowered skirt, her hair had been released from its tight bun, cascading down her bare back.

She was aware that the creeps were watching her, but showed no fear. After all, Jenna did graduate at the top of her martial arts class back at West Point, and possessed several black belts and trophies to prove her worth. At the end of the strip, she noticed a group of sailors that appeared to be African or Middle Eastern, hanging around in the shadows. They seemed suspicious. Jenna checked it out.

They could be into smuggling, drugs, or literally anything illicit that you can transport over the sea. Jenna mused as she circled in closer to them. She put one hand on her sidearm, clicking off its safety. "Good evening, boys. Out for a moonlight stroll, are we?" Jenna sneered as she aggressively approached them.

"What's it to you, missy?" One nasty looking light skinned goon said in a heavy South African accent. "We ain't done nothin." A second darker skinned man said. "See that it stays that way." Jenna threatened as she slowed her approach. "Who are you the bloody police?" A third dark skin man asked.

"Something like that." Jenna circled them, noting that two more creeps had ventured out of the shadows behind them. Five against one, this could be fun, Jenna's youthful exuberance surfaced. Please, make a move, she silently wished, as she came around to their left side and faced them.

"Hey, what are you playin' at?" The dark skinned guy asked. "We got rights to be here." Jenna nodded. "Did I say that you didn't?" she challenged. Jenna figured that she couldn't goad them into anything at the moment. She had the advantage of surprise. No one had ever seen her on the wharf before.

The goons didn't quite know what to make of her. Two of the creeps prowled out behind Jenna. They started to close in on her. In seconds, the barrel of her standard issue Naval pistol faced them. She'd aimed the pistol at the nearest goon's head behind her, without taking her eyes off of the rogues in front of her. "I wouldn't!" Jenna snarled as the two guys behind her froze in their tracks.

With an equally swift move, Jenna whipped out a long barreled silver pistol from the elastic waistband on her swimsuit with her left hand, and cocked it, aiming it at the dark skinned creep's face. Jenna always carried a spare gun, and its cold hard steel felt reassuring against her warm, humid skin.

"I don't want there to be any misunderstandings, of course." Jenna narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice in a calm threatening manner. "We wouldn't want that, now would we?" She baited. "No, bloody hell, no way, we've got no weapons, y'know." The dark skinned guy backpedaled a bit.

"Good. Keep it that way." Jenna spun in place slowly tracing the heads of all the goons with both guns. "I think that hard working, fine young gentlemen like yourselves ought to go home and get some rest." She snarled, waving the guns at them suggestively. "Yeah, that's the ticket." A light skinned creep began, as he turned away from Jenna. "Boys, aren't we tired? We have a lot o'work to do tomorrow."

"Yeah, bloody well right." Another brown skinned rogue said from behind them. "A good night's rest will do us all a world o'good." The dark skinned guy snapped his fingers, and the goons peeled away one by one, each taking a different direction. "G'night miss." He added as Jenna kept a watchful eye on him and his cohorts. Jenna waited for them to leave before investigating the remainder of the wharf.

Jenna examined every ship in the Port of Achilles over the next few nights, but had still come up empty. _I_ _know those pirates are here somewhere_, she silently encouraged herself. _I've got to find them, and determine what they're up to._ As luck would have it, The _Paramore_, an Australian cargo ship had just pulled into a Port of Achilles slip. They had a number of expensive items on board.

Scene: _On board the Paramore._

Jenna had spoken with Captain Murray, and his First Officer, Scott Ryan, both Americans, who sailed the _Paramore._ They offered her a tour of the ship, and for a small fee, the ship's cargo itinerary. There were plenty of inventory items that could be sold on the black market for some big money.

The Paramore was a very tempting target for pirates, terrorists, or any criminal organization worth it's salt. Jenna decided that this was her opportunity to lay a trap for any wrongdoers. She informed the Captain of her plans, after clarifying that this wasn't an official American Naval operation.

Jenna was freelancing, and disguised herself as a member of the _Paramore'_s crew. Captain Murray gave her a detailed list of the crew and its duties, complete with shift times, approved lunches and breaks, and the Paramore's fairly aggressive work schedule, for a nominal fee of course.

Jenna was all set. All she had to do now is wait for a robbery attempt. Her confidence was so high, that she toyed with the idea of telling Captain Starkos that she'll be taking a few days off this week. The pieces were all in place. Now, would Jenna's efforts be rewarded?


	15. Chapter 15: Lost Princess

**Chapter 15**

_Back in Metropolis_:

The young Amazon princess, Diana vaulted upward from the busy city street. She hadn't been in Man's World for many years. Every growing season that the Amazons went through on Themyscira seemed to last ten years in the Man's world, within our current reality.

The Man's World had changed greatly, Diana observed. The red, blue, and gold sacred outfit of the Amazon princess stood out like a sore thumb on this gray, cool, and overcast day. Many passers by gawked at the scantily clad raven haired beauty. Most paid her no mind, thinking Diana a hooker or something. A few men wolf whistled at her as she deftly climbed a tall tree.

Overall, the people of Metropolis were in too much of a hurry to waste time gaping. Diana leapt upward from tree to tree, eventually swinging from a tall street light. This gave her an unobstructed view of the gleaming populous city. Skyscrapers seemed to reach high into the heavens, Diana mused.

"Great Gaia!" Diana craned her neck, and still couldn't see the peaks of the taller buildings. "These structures pierce the very heavens, as grand as Mount Olympus itself." She muttered. Below her, cars, trucks, and buses whizzed by, some honking their ubiquitous horns at the obvious distraction perched above them. "Hera, protect me!" Diana gasped, nearing tears.

After taking a moment to calm her fears, Diana slid down the streetlight pole, and chose to walk normally among the people. Her six foot frame towered over many residents of the Midwestern city. The denizens of Metropolis parted as Diana approached like a ship cutting through a sea surf.

Children gawked, males sneered, and females snorted as Diana walked amongst them. The Metropolis Police Department had been summoned. The call came over Clark and Lois's police scanner. "There's a disturbance down on Sixth and Main, Smallville." Lois announced. "You want to check it out?"

Clark hadn't been paying enough attention to Lois since they'd gotten back from Zatanna's impromptu trip into a fantasy of Lois's past. "Sure. It's a slow night. I could use a walk." He agreed, smiling at her briefly. "Great! Heels up in five!" Lois sounded delighted to be getting out of the office.

She quickly went to the restroom as Clark tried to zero in on the source of the police department's dismay. His superior hearing picked up the scanner's info, though its volume had been turned way down.

"...woman on lamppost causing distraction...please advise." He picked that up as Lois returned. "Ready?" She asked, grabbing her reporter's notepad and pen.

"Let's roll." Clark smirked. In truth he was just glad to be going somewhere with Lois. The two of them had been growing closer every day. Lois playfully held his hand as she led him towards the elevator. Since they'd been promoted to cub reporters, Lois and Clark had moved their cubicles to the eighth floor. Which conveniently had a storeroom with a window for Clark to climb out of if need be.

The young couple wandered out into the cool, crisp, evening air. "So Smallville, penny for your thoughts?" Lois flirtatiously invited. "I was just thinking about you." Clark returned the flirt. "See, I knew that you'd come around to me." Lois snickered as she drew him closer to her. "What do you mean, Lois?" Clark was truly puzzled by her behavior, yet she kept him on his toes.

"Don't play coy with me Clark." Lois stopped and turned to face him, gazing into his eyes. "You promised me a second date." She reminded him, and reached up to kiss his cheek. "I promised you?" Clark could swear that it had been the other way around.

"Yes." Lois beamed. "I'm thinking a nice relaxing Monster Truck rally, followed by a few brewskis at The Olde Hen saloon, down near the waterfront." Clark smiled, though he was caught off guard by Lois's aggressiveness. Still, it was one of the things he liked most about her. Lois could certainly stand on her own two feet. "Sounds good! The rally is Friday night, correct?"

"That's affirmative, Smallville!" Lois accelerated her pace towards the disruption on Sixth and Main. An MPD squad car drove by, but wasn't really in that much of a hurry. They arrived on scene, but only saw tons of people milling about. "Hey! Book 'em Dano!" Lois pointed a finger at Detective Dan Turpin.

"Lane? Slow night?" Dan asked, as he chewed on the end of a cigar. "I doubt if jay walkers would ever get you two that front page story." Clark scowled. "Jay walker?" He parroted. "I don't know what else to charge her with." Dan began. "Scoop is that some broad in a red and blue swimsuit jumped from trees to lampposts, and frightened a number of drivers who thought that the kid was drunk or on drugs."

"A red swimsuit?" Lois scribbled that down. "It's got to be about forty five degrees out here." Clark began to wonder about this woman. "Yeah, some pedestrians thought that she was hookin', y'know, tryin' to drum up business. I notified vice, but they hadn't seen her or filed any complaints against her."

"Do we have a description, Detective?" Clark asked officially. "Hold on. Lenny, you got a descrip on this broad?" He shouted at a nearby patrol officer. "Here you go, chief." Dan read from a police report. "Yeah, six foot tall if she was an inch, long black hair, long tan legs, red, blue, and gold swimsuit, silver bracers on each wrist, and a gold lasso draped around her waist."

Clark gulped. That could only be one person, he guessed, but how? "Woo Hoo!" Lois voiced a country girl yee haw to go with it. "Sounds like your type, Turpin." Lois quipped. "So she didn't really break any laws then?" Turpin shook his head. "We got nothin'. I was about to send the boys home. Sorry Lane, Kent, a Pulitzer Prize winning story this ain't."

"You got that, right, Dano." Lois slapped closed her notepad. "Sorry Clark, I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow for a good story. This city's a cesspool, you'd think that there would be a story around every corner." Lois shrugged. "We'll just have to walk through Metro Central Park." She flirted.

Clark was already considering that he might be wrong, but the evidence did suggest Diana, the Amazon Princess. Lois didn't recall their fantasy trip onto Amazon Island, but what if Diana did? They held hands and slowly ventured through the Central Park. Lois hugged him, and Clark reflexively put his arm around her slim waist. They passed a beautiful city fountain, now shut down for the upcoming winter.

"Clarkkent?" A husky female voice said from above them. Lois glanced up, and gawked. Diana, in her full costume, sat on a thick tree branch about twenty feet above them. Immediately, she vaulted down to the sidewalk, landing gracefully. "Hera be praised!" Diana hugged Clark, accidentally shoving Lois to the side. "Hey, listen sister...!" Lois challenged.

"Of course, Lois Lane! The Amazon Nation owes you a great debt." Diana smiled though she placed herself between the young couple. "Huh? Clark, please tell me that this is not another one of your nutty ex-girlfriends!" Lois snapped as Clark rolled his eyes.


	16. Chapter 16: Paradox

**Paradox**

Clark led Diana, much to Lois's objection, back to the Daily Planet. He had no idea how to explain the Amazon princess's appearance in Metropolis to Lois, or how to delineate the time line between the nearly two hundred year old, magic inspired, alternate reality that Lois's fantasy had created.

Diana's natural curiosity had kept her mind and mouth busy so far, Clark observed. She remarked on every facet of the Metropolis city life on Man's World. Many men and women gawked at Diana's revealing, yet somehow patriotic, swimsuit-like outfit. Others of both sexes simply ignored her.

A drunken American sailor and his equally inebriated pals laughingly saluted Diana as she passed by, their blurred vision still able to pick out the stars and stripes on her suit. Lois silently fumed. Maybe if I walked around in that outfit, Clark would pay more attention to me, she thought sourly.

Clark helped Diana navigate the strange spinning doors that led into the Daily Planet's one hundred and fifty year old lobby. Lois followed closely, nearly tripping over Diana as she stopped to glance at an image of a fanciful sea creature that had been created in gold plated brass.

There were many such gold and brass fantasy creatures sculpted into the lobby's decor. The whole building had been refurbished in the early 1900's. "That is the sign of the Under-dwellers!" Diana commented loudly, her voice rising above the din of the influx of people talking on their cell phones, or carrying on long distance conversations across the lobby.

"Under-dwellers?" Lois parroted, instantly smelling an additional storyline. "Yes, Lois Lane. No one has seen nor heard from them since the period wars began in your early twentieth century." Diana attempted to explain, but drew only a blank stare from both Lois and Clark.

Clark guided the confused Amazon to the elevator, and pressed a button. "You use machines to elevate you?" Diana scoffed. "No wonder so many people of Man's World are obese. You would never catch an Amazon worth the feathers in her hair in such a place, especially if a stairway is nearby."

The doors swung open, and a single male passenger leaned against the back of the elevator car, dutifully hiding his face from them behind the latest edition of the Daily Planet. The three friends ignored the guy as Lois pressed the button for their eighth floor newsroom offices.

"So, Clark, does meeting a princess from a foreign land qualify as front page news yet?" She threw in the dig, not really expecting an answer from him. "One step at a time, Lois, one step at a time." Clark replied. Truth be told, he still hadn't figured out a logical explanation to feed Lois. He mentally chuckled, considering the truth would be by far the most bizarre story to tell.

The elevator reached their floor, and as usual, in gentlemanly fashion, Clark stepped aside so the ladies could be the first ones out. "Uh...Kent...a word please?" The man's deep voice surprised him. "Now is not a really good time..." Clark began as he turned to face...himself!

Clark's eyes widened as he saw himself, several years in the future. He'd bulked up quite a bit, had shorter, slicked back hair, and wore black rimmed glasses that seemed to be too big for his face. "Oh...I think that you'll want to hear this...roof...ten minutes, and leave the girls behind."

"Okay." Clark the younger, stammered. With that, the elder Clark zipped past him in hyper-speed and zoomed up the fire escape through a conveniently opened window. The breeze disrupted Lois's hair.

The front locks of her hair momentarily blocked her view of Diana, who was already examining a nearby computer system, after shoving Cat Grant out of the way. "Hey! You can't do that!" Grant whined. "Relax sister." Diana began in a level tone. "This device has been talked about much on Themyscira." Cat Grant shuddered from the cool breeze, and moved away from the much taller and muscular Diana.

"You know about computers and the Internet?" Clark was surprised. "Yes Clark Kent. Every so often, with my mother's permission, an Amazon warrior may earn the right through battle contests to come to Man's World and learn." Clark scowled. "Hippolita sends spies into Man's...our world?"

"Of course." Diana's big blue green eyes met his. "We must keep up with our enemy's interests for security reasons. Additionally, the latest medical supplies, and technology can be made useful to the Amazon Nation. The old traditional cures do not always save our sisters' lives."

"First of all, Diana, we are not the enemy of the Amazons." Clark continued to scowl. "Secondly, do you think that its right for your people to spy on the world and steal technology?" Diana placed her long arms on her shapely hips. "Clark Kent, we do what we must to survive. Its not as if your own people don't conspire together to spy on each other and steal technology." The Amazon beauty defended.

"She's got you there, Smallville." Lois quipped, and Clark had almost forgotten that she was listening, as was Cat Grant. "You people are all nuts, you know that?" Cat whined. "I'm going to break. Let me know when your girlfriends are done with my PC, I still have work to do!" Cat turned on her heel and left.

"By the way, Princess Diana, Clark is my boyfriend." Lois reminded her in an even tone. "Of course, Lois Lane." Diana didn't sound offended in any way, and was acting in a truly regal manner. "I haven't met many men, but Clark Kent seems to be a truly honorable warrior." She added diplomatically.

Immediately, Lois felt bad about being jealous of the elegant, yet strange, Diana. "Uh...Lois, can you show Diana how to access the public information on the Internet?" She cast a puzzled glance at him. "I have to do...something." Clark couldn't think up a good enough lie, and resisted doing so. The sooner that I stop lying to Lois, the better. He thought convincingly. "Now?" Lois scoffed. Clark shrugged.

"Whatever!" Lois said as she returned her attention to Diana. In the blink of an eye, Clark was gone. Lois had intended to glance at his backside before he left, but he'd moved too fast for her. Moved too fast? She suddenly thought. He does that quite a lot... The computer beeped startling Diana briefly.

"It certainly makes odd noises." The Amazon Princess observed, as some pictures about the U.S. Government appeared. Clark the younger had zipped up to the rooftop, and sure enough, there stood Clark the elder, dressed in a bulky gray trench coat, and holding a 1950's style, creased felt hat.

"What's this about?" Clark the younger demanded. "It's about the future." Clark the elder began. "Ours, Lois's, The Justice League's, The Amazons, The Under Dwellers, and in fact this entire world's." The younger Clark stalked the older one, and examined his body and face in detail.

"I certainly gained some weight." The younger Clark commented. "Don't blame fast food or our mom's cooking." The elder Kent joked. "Our bodies pack on more density the longer we remain on Earth."

"But I'm here to tell you that you must act now to create the Justice League. In my time, I waited too long, obsessed with keeping my secret. It cost many lives...including everyone's that we loved." Amidst this grim tale, the younger Clark noticed a gold wedding band on the elder Clark's finger.


End file.
